Nationwide House Price Index (HPI) out today shows that house prices rose by 1.2% in January and are up 8.6% year-on-year according. This represents a strong start to 2010.

Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “Unless there is a fall in property values in February, annual house price inflation is likely to move into double-digit territory next month for the first time since May 2007.”

This would mean that we could see rise of above 10% a year, but likely to just represent the exit from the recession rather than a return to the high yearly increases we saw just before the recession.

The three-month on three-month rate, regarded as a less volatile measure of house prices, saw prices rise by 2.1% in January, down slightly from 2.3% in December.

For more information read the full Nationwide press release

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