British house prices climb in May - survey

British house prices increased by 1.2 per cent in May from April, a survey by home-loans provider Nationwide showed yesterday.

That left the average value of a home at just over £154,000 (€176,530), according to Nationwide.

The latest increase took the annual rate at which house prices are falling to 11.3 per cent, from 15 per cent in April.

Nationwide cautioned that it was too early to tell whether house prices in recession-hit Britain have turned the corner.

"Although the short-term trend in house prices has clearly improved from where it was at the beginning of the year, it is still too early to say that the market is turning definitively," warned Nationwide's chief economist Martin Gahbauer.

"During the downturn of the early 1990s, there were many months during which prices rose, only to fall back down again in subsequent periods.

"In the current downturn, the combination of rapidly rising unemployment and tight access to credit implies that the last of the price declines has probably not been seen yet."