House prices in Britain rose at their fastest pace in at least 18 months in October to push up the annual rate of inflation in the sector for the first time this year, property website Rightmove.co.uk says.
Rightmove said asking prices for houses surged by an unadjusted 3.3 per cent this month after falling 0.6 per cent in September. This was the biggest increase since Rightmove started collecting data 18 month ago.
The annual rate rose to 9.8 per cent from 9.1 per cent last month.
"There's been a clear upsurge in activity, with many first-time buyers and investors back looking for properties, particularly at the cheaper end of the market," said Mr Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove.
He said the higher prices were being driven by a shortage of properties for sale.
House prices are a closely watched economic indicator and they often move closely with consumer confidence.
Prices have boomed in recent years as consumers have taken advantage of the lowest borrowing costs in a generation to fund property purchases. Rightmove recorded an annual price increase of 26.5 percent in January.
But there have been signs that the market was slowing in recent months as buyers were more cautious about the prospects of a crash in prices like those of the early 1990s.