Peter Rollings commenting in response to the latest figures from Halifax

"After the trauma caused by the end of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers, national house prices seem to be steadying. An April lull was inevitable after many buyers brought forward purchases into March, but the last few weeks have seen an improvement on a national level, in spite of a fairly dismal mortgage market and a misfiring economy. We are back in the new norm for the housing market, characterised by historically low levels of transactions and largely static sales prices. Until the mortgage market gets back on track, and first-time buyer numbers can return to a semblance of their pre-crunch level, short-term gains in national house prices will continue to be driven by the more buoyant, equity-rich parts of London."