U.K. Home Prices Rise in December

London–After a three-month decline, U.K. home prices rebounded in December, according to the nation’s largest mortgage lender.Hailfax said that, based on its loans to homebuyers, average national home prices increased by 1.3 percent last month. British home prices increased by an average of £11,759 in 2007, according to Halifax, who again forecast prices will stay flat for the year.In November, prices had dropped 1.3 percent. Home prices fell 0.7 percent in October and 0.6 percent in September, The Times reports.Home prices now are only 0.8 percent over the last quarter of 2006. The price decreases late in 2007 were enough to sharply reduce the annual pace of house price inflation to its lowest point in two years, indicating the housing market is still softening. Separate findings from the Council of Mortgage Lenders further implied the housing market is winding down. New mortgage approvals in November dropped to its lowest level in seven months, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.