UK House Prices In Surprise Rise In April, Says Nationwide
UK house prices rose by 0.5% in April after seven consecutive months of falls, according to the Nationwide building society.
Economists had been expecting average prices to decrease during the month.
Prices had been falling since August last year, after Liz Truss's mini-budget sparked turmoil on financial markets and drove up borrowing costs.
Nationwide is predicting a "modest recovery" in the housing market as mortgage rates start to come down.
But it said any improvement would be "fairly pedestrian", as household finances remain under pressure and average earnings have been failing to keep pace with inflation.
The cost of an average home rose by 0.5% between March and April to hit £260,441, said the lender, which bases the findings on its mortgage data.
However, that was still 2.7% lower than a year ago.