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![image: [ Prices are climbing in estate agents' windows ]](/olmedia/50000/images/_52924_window.jpg)
They rose by 0.6% in January, following a small fall in December, according to the bank's monthly survey.
The Halifax predicts there'll be "moderate growth" in house prices during the rest of the year.
First-time buyers paid marginally more than in December, with property values rising 0.2%.
The average price paid by new buyers was £49,467, compared to £80,346 for people who had bought property before.
Prices of newly-built homes are fluctuating wildly month by month, but the general trend over the last three months has been for new house prices to rise by 3%.
The annual rate of new house inflation is now 8.7%, with the average price now standing at £73,406.
Halifax predicted annual house price inflation, currently at 5.8%, would dip slightly during the rest of the year to around 5%.
The recent interest rate rises and predictions of slower growth in people's salaries this year would marginally dampen price rises, Halifax said.
Fall in house prices 'a blip'
(06 Jan 98 | Business)
British house prices to stabilise, says lender
(30 Dec 97 | Business)
House prices "climb to eight-year peak"
(02 Dec 97 | Business)
House price rises "past their peak"
(28 Nov 97 | Business)
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