The Nationwide’s numbers showed a 0.9% rise in September, to an average house price of £161,816. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices are up by 7.2% on February and by 4.1% on December last year, so are on course for a 2009 rise. They are still 13.5% below their peak, which was reached in October 2007, before the mortgage taps were abruptly turned off.

What does this tell us about the outlook? All the usual health warnings apply about limited housing supply and the impact of rising unemployment. I have noted before, however, that markets were thin when prices were going down. It would be unusual, moreover, to have another big bout of falls when the economy is recovering.

Despite the small dip in August, approvals remain well above earlier lows; up by 63% on a year earlier and by 91% on their low point last November. Although the number of approvals edged lower, their value rose, from £7.1 billion to £7.2 billion in August. Meanwhile, the same Bank of England survey that showed mortgage availability had tightened over the past three months suggested that more loans would be available over the next three.

House prices will not carry on rising at their recent rate, but last week’s news was significant. Consumer confidence, according to the latest survey by GfK NOP, is at its highest since January 2008. As long as people feel better about themselves and the economy, they will feel better about buying houses.”

So encouraging news for those with properties!

What this also shows is it will be harder to get as strong level of discounts as whe have got used to in the past – I mean the pool of sellers who will give away a quarter of the value of their property which is what we aim for, is not surprisingly getting smaller! I would imagine in another 6 months it will be hard to get 15-20% discounts, never mind 30%+. Take advantage of the discounts that we are currently getting, to read more, go to http://www.rhettlewis.com/profitgenerator/portfolio_build.php