Homeowners have received a boost after figures released by the government revealed that house prices role in November last year.

While there have been widespread predictions of a housing market slump and statistics from other financial institutions have indicated prices fell in the latter part of 2007, the Land Registry said that prices actually increased by 0.9 per cent in November.

Properties in London drove the rise, with house prices in the capital increasing by 1.1 per cent from October, with the West Midlands seeing one per cent price growth in the same period.

Wales also saw impressive growth, with the average cost of a home rising to 0.7 per cent.

Tom Carter, a branch manager with McCartneys in mid-Wales, told the Western Mail the figures were "what we would have expected".

"Land Registry figures tend to be more accurate because they reflect completed sale prices and are not surveys," he said.

The only region which saw a fall in November was the north-east, where prices dropped by 0.9 per cent.