A report from Rightmove suggests house prices have risen by 0.6 per cent this month, the online estate agency warns that lenders’ caution and poor stock levels continue to threaten the market, report The Independent.

Rightmove’s monthly housing survey, based on asking prices rather than on completions, reveals the value of properties across the UK are continuing to fall. While overall prices in England and Wales have risen during September, only three areas of the country saw gains, East Anglia, London and the South-East of England, with the North of England, in particular, registering disappointingly lower prices.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said that the biggest restraint on the market was the high deposits now required by most mortgage lenders.

“The recession appears to have hit prices harder in the North, and this is compounded by lenders’ more conservative attitude to risk,” Mr Shipside said. “Lenders quite naturally prefer to lend to lower-risk borrowers in better locations, with better job security, larger deposits and more resilient property values.”

Mr Shipside added that he believed the market had reached a crossroads. “Confidence is up, stock is down and the number of people searching is high – there are lots of positives, but too few buyers can put down the 40 per cent deposits that are needed in order to secure the best mortgage deals,” he said.

“Finance greases the wheels of the property market and it is anybody’s guess when we might see the necessary level of competitive funding return.”

Wolton Removal report September 2009 as being the best months trading this year. House removals are definately on the increase as confidence grows in the economy.