UK house prices -0.3 pct yy in Nov-Land Registry

House prices in England and Wales rose 0.9 percent on the month in November, their sixth consecutive rise, leaving prices 0.3 percent lower than a year ago, government data showed on Wednesday.

London led the recovery, with a monthly rise of 2 percent and a year-on-year gain of 3.5 percent, figures from the Land Registry showed.

The annual rate of house price falls eased for the seventh month in a row, supporting anecdotal evidence that record-low interest rates are breathing new life into the market.

Property transactions also picked up, with sales more than 5,000 higher per month between June and September than in the same period a year ago.

Land Registry figures are based on sale completions and therefore lag surveys by mortgage lenders, such as Halifax and the Nationwide, which show British house prices have already turned positive on an annual basis.

Britain's housing market crashed in 2008, when a reluctance by banks to lend led to properties losing as much as a fifth of their value.