House prices climb in August but annual rate of inflation falls

House prices rose by 1% in August but the overall increase since May is a mere 0.2%, compared with a 2.9% rise in the preceding three month period. The average house price is now £179,043, the lender says, with the annual rate of house price inflation falling back from 9.4% in June to 8.2% now. Halifax expects this pattern to continue over the coming months taking the annual rate of inflation even lower. The lender says it now expects the annual rate of house price inflation to ease to 5% by the end of 2006. While the market remains sound a number of developments are expected to constrai...