Nationwide?s final house price figures for the year show a 5.9 per cent rise over the 12 months. This is some recovery from the sharp fall of 15.9 per cent in 2008.
December?s rise was 0.4 per cent, taking the average cost of a home to ?162,103, and it was the eighth month in a row that prices have risen.
At the close of the noughties, Nationwide was also able to announce that, in spite of the recent recession, the decade was the strongest on record for house prices.
Since the end of 1999 house prices have gone up by 117 per cent, and even after taking into account the effect of inflation, the average rise was 68 per cent, whereas in the 1990s the property values fell in real terms by 14 per cent.
The recovery had taken most analysts by surprise, said Nationwide. Chief economist Martin Gahbauer told the BBC: ?Few could have foreseen this development at the start of the year, when the near-term price trend was still pointing to a repeat of the double-digit annual decline experienced in 2008.?
Mr Gahbauer also said that house prices had bounced back an impressive 8.9 per cent since their low point in February 2009, albeit prices are still 12.2 per cent lower than the cyclical peak of October 2007.
Looking forward to 2010, Mr Gahbauer said the outlook was not clear. While interest rates would probably stay low, aiding buyers, uncertainty over jobs and the availability of cash-rich buyers cast doubts over the year?s prospects.
Mr Gahbauer said: ?The experience of 2009 demonstrates how unpredictable the market is at the current juncture and that one should always be prepared for the UK housing market to surprise.”
