British lender Halifax has said that the average price of a house in the UK will rise by at least 10pc this year, up from an earlier 9pc forecast. The group announced the revision after revealing that house prices rose by 0.6pc in June and by 7.1pc in the first six months of the year. Low unemployment and low interest rates are continuing to support the property market and Halifax said there is a possibility that the final outcome "could well be house price growth of more than 10pc". "Employment - the key driver according to our research - is at a record high and low interest rates are maintaining mortgage payments at around their lowest levels as a proportion of gross earnings in the last 20 years," said chief economist Martin Ellis. He added that house price growth has slowed compared to last year due to a continuing increase in the number of properties coming on to the market, but that prices are still rising at a faster pace so far this year than expected. In June, the standardised average price of a house in the UK was STG130,312. //www.fxcentre.com