The Halifax has announced that house prices increased by 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The Halifax has announced that house prices increased by 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2005.

It states that this rise is consistent with all the main house price indicators released during the last few months.

Although the annual rise of 5.1 per cent is the lowest for the last ten years, the Halifax does say that some regions saw larger rises.

House prices in Scotland were found to have increased by 14.8 per cent – a figure that represents the largest inflation of all the UK's regions.

London also saw improved figures, recording a rise of 6.7 per cent over the course of the year, an increase that is 2.8 per cent higher than in 2004.

The Halifax expects house prices to remain "broadly flat" during 2006, forecasting price inflation at three per cent over the course of the year.

Commenting on the data from the Halifax, Howard Archer, chief economist at consultancy Global Insight, states that "a sharp fall in house prices appears to have disappeared off the radar".