House prices rise for second time in three months

Nationwide's Chief Economist Martin Gahbauer said: "The price of a typical house rose by 1.2% in May, providing further evidence of some improvement in housing market conditions over the last few months." The average house price is still 11.3% lower than a year ago, although this marks a significant improvement frmo the annual decline of 15% recorded in April.

However before you get too excited about green shoots, he continues by saying, "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."