UK house prices rise to record high, says Halifax

According to the bank's House Price Index, prices rose by 9.7% year-on-year in October to reach a new all-time high of £205,240 on average. See MoneySavingExpert.com's Mortgages and House Buying section for help if you're looking to buy a home.

The 9.7% increase is also the biggest annual increase in UK property values since August last year. In September, the year-on-year growth was 8.6%.

Month-on-month, property values increased by 1.1% in October, reversing a 0.9% fall in September. On a quarterly basis, house prices in the three months from August to October were 2.8% higher than between May and July.

Martin Ellis, Halifax's housing economist, says: "Improving economic conditions and household finances, together with sustained low mortgage rates, have boosted housing demand during 2015. Strengthening demand is filtering through into higher sales levels although the ongoing shortage of supply is acting as a significant constraint on activity.

"The imbalance between supply and demand is likely to persist over the coming months, maintaining upward pressure on house prices."

The figures come as Bank of England statistics show the number of mortgage approvals rose by 4% between the second and third quarters of 2015.