House prices increased by 2.1% annually, to £234,625 in November 2019, Halifax’s house price index has revealed, adding that prices increased in 1% in November alone.

Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, said: “While a degree of uncertainty remains evident, it’s also clear that buyers and sellers are responding to factors such as improved mortgage affordability and the limited supply of available properties. It is these issues which we believe will continue to underpin the resilience evident in the market for most of 2019. Over the medium term we expect the emerging trend of modest gains to continue into next year.”

Responding to the figures, Jamie Johnson, CEO at FJP Investment, said: “This increase may come as a surprise to many. Given the UK is approaching its third election in four years one might have assumed housing prices would have declined or remained stagnant. A mild increase is positive news and demonstrates that buyer demand is strong even amidst one of the most significant general elections in recent times.”

Guy Harrington, CEO at property lender Glenhawk, added: “Are we set for lift off? 1% month-on-month growth vs the forecasted negative 0.7% is quite a result for the UK housing market.”