The housing market has experienced a cooling down in the last quarter, but overall for the year, the housing market did well. According to the latest data released by Halifax, UK house prices rose by an average of 8.5% or £16,000. The area of Greenwich in southeast London saw the average house price increase by a 25%.The average UK home currently costs £209,428 according to Halifax.

London still contributes heavily to the overall average house price for the UK. None out of the ten areas with the largest increases this year are in the London area. The area outside of London in the top ten list is Crawley, West Sussex.

Craig McKinlay, mortgage director at Halifax, said, “Continuing improvements in the economy, rising employment and low mortgage rates will no doubt have supported housing demand and, combined with a shortage of homes coming on to the market, will have contributed to rising property values.

"Several of the towns experiencing price falls in the past year are still suffering from relatively weak employment conditions, which may have had an adverse impact on their local housing markets.”

Experts in the housing market have forecasted that next year house prices will increase by 3% to 5%. Which dampers those that have feared the housing market could rebound after the winter weather and holidays and take on out of control pricing. Fears were strong in the summer that the UK was facing a possible housing market bubble.

Despite the increase in house pricing, and a healthier market, there still remains a weak demand for mortgage and remortgage lending. Both are expected to see a boost after the New Year, which could see lenders abandon their competitive nature of late and increase their interest rate offerings.