UK house prices climb 0.4% in August

British house prices rose in August for the seventh month in a row, as buyers returned to the market with the help of government-backed schemes, a survey showed on Friday. Prices rose by 0.4 percent in August from July, according to data from home-loans provider Halifax. The data covers all categories of homes including apartments. Halifax, which is part of state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group, added that prices rallied 5.4 percent in the three months to August compared with a year earlier. That was the biggest annual increase since June 2010. The average price of a home in Britain meanwhile stood at £170,231 ($265,515, 202,324 euros) in August. "Economic improvement and low interest rates, supported by official schemes such as Funding for Lending and Help to Buy, appear to have boosted housing demand in recent months," said Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis. "Nonetheless, relatively modest economic growth and below inflation rises in earnings are likely to act as a brake on the market. "Overall, house prices are expected to rise gradually over the remainder of the year."