House prices rise by 1.1%

House prices in the UK rose by 1.1% between the first and second quarter of this year, according to new statistics.

The figures released by Nationwide show the average house price now stands at £154,066, compared to £149,709 in quarter one. 

The most expensive region is London, where the average house prices sits at £256,496. The North of England is currently the cheapest region with house prices standing at 112,348 on average. 

Martin Gahnauer, chief economist at Nationwide, says the second quarter of 2009 saw a significant improvement in house price trends across all UK regions. 

"Each UK region saw a moderation in the annual pace of decline, and in some cases these improvements were quite substantial," he says. 

"In addition, eight out of thirteen regions saw an increase in prices between the first and second quarter of the year. For the UK as whole, prices rose by 1.1% in the second quarter, leading to an improvement in the annual rate of change from -16.5% in the first quarter to -11.7%."