UK house prices in the UK rose one per cent in November, according to the latest data out from mortgage lender Halifax.

The figure was considerably stronger than analysts' estimates of a 0.2% rise and broke a four month run of falling prices.

However, that series of drops meant that over the last three months house prices were still 0.7% on the previous three months.

They were also down by 1.3% year-on-year in the three months to November.

Halifax said there were some signs that the Bank of England Funding for Lending Scheme was lowering mortgage rates and boosting the number of approvals.

The lender's figures were considerably more bullish than those from the Nationwide, which reported house prices were flat in November.

Dr Howard Archer, Chief UK Economist at IHS, predicted prices would be broadly flat over the coming months.

"Recent signs of modestly improving housing market activity and the likely increasing beneficial impact of the Funding for Lending Scheme on mortgage lending underpin our belief that house prices will broadly stabilise," he said.

"However, we suspect that any significant, sustainable turnaround in house prices is still some way off."

It was a similar message from Blerina Uruci at Barclays.

"So far, supply restrictions and accommodative monetary policy have provided some support to the housing market and prevented prices from falling significantly," she said.

"From here we expect the squeeze on real household earnings to ease in the medium term and for the Bank of England's Funding for Lending Scheme to provide some support to prices (albeit modest)."

On the Halifax measure, house prices stood at £160,879 in November, which is 4.6% below the last peak of £168,593 in April 2010.

The all-time seasonally-adjusted high for house prices on the Halifax measure was £199,612 in August 2007, meaning house prices in November were 19.4% below the August 2007 all-time high.

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