House prices continue 'brisk' rise, says Nationwide

Prices rose by 0.6% compared with July and are up by 3.5% compared with a year earlier, though the annual rate had slowed slightly, the building society said. Meanwhile, the three-month on three-month comparison in prices recorded a 1.4% rise - the biggest increase in more than three years. An improving economic outlook has led to rising consumer confidence, helping to push up prices, it concluded. The building society's chief economist, Robert Gardner, added that greater availability of cheaper mortgages had also increased activity in the market. "An improvement in the availabi...