House prices in the United Kingdom rose by 1.3 percent in July, and may finish the year with a slight gain, AP quoted a major mortgage lender as saying. The Nationwide Building Society, the nation's third-largest mortgage lender, said July's gain left the average price 6.2 percent lower than a year ago, at 158,871 pounds ($261,200). For the first seven months of the year, Nationwide's index also showed prices rising by 1.3 percent, raising the possibility of a full-year increase from the depths of the market's fall. «Only a few months ago such an outcome would have appeared unthinkable,» said Nationwide's chief economist Martin Gahbauer. However, he warned that rising unemployment _ currently 7.6 percent _ is likely to force more owners to sell. «It is unlikely, therefore, that price increases can be sustained for long at the very strong rate observed over the last few months,» Gahbauer said.
