House price fall halts for first time in 10 months

House prices stopped falling in April for the first time in 10 months as demand for homes picked up, property researcher Hometrack has said.

The average cost of a home was unchanged from March at £153,100, it said in its latest report.  Prices in London climbed 0.3%.

Demand as measured by prospective buyers registering with estate agents has risen 22% so far this year, according to the research company.

The rise had eased the downward pressure on house prices along with a recent tightening in available supply, it said.

Hometrack's director of research, Richard Donnell, said in the report: "The second half of 2011 is likely to emerge as a new phase where rising supply will constrain any further improvement in pricing levels."

Recent housing market data have been mixed as a lack of supply props up home values while restricted mortgage lending and the deepest government spending cuts since World War II deter buyers.

The number of potential buyers registering with estate agents climbed by 2.8% in April from March, when it rose 4.2%, Hometrack said.

Agents reported an 8% increase in agreed sales, compared with 12.6% the previous month.

Rightmove said last week that only one in four Britons now forecast a decline in house prices over the next 12 months, compared with one in three in the previous quarter.