UK house prices show surprise rise in October - Nationwide

LONDON (Reuters) - British house prices unexpectedly rose by 0.9% in October from September but the increase was due to a lack of homes for sale rather than a sign of a turnaround in the market which has been hit by a jump in borrowing costs, a mortgage lender said.

Year on year October prices were down 3.3%, a less sharp fall than September's 5.3% drop, Nationwide said.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected prices to fall by a monthly 0.4% and by 4.8% year on year.

"The uptick in house prices in October most likely reflects the fact that the supply of properties on the market is constrained," Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner said.

There was little evidence of forced selling of homes, which would push down prices, in large part because unemployment remains low which is helping households to meet their higher mortgage costs, Gardner said.

The Bank of England raised interest rates 14 times between December 2021 and August 2023, pushing mortgage rates to their highest since 2008. The BoE is expected to leave the Bank Rate on hold for a second meeting in a row on Thursday.

(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Jason Neely)