UK house prices picked up in September after a fall the month before, according to sales data from lender Nationwide.
The building society's house price index rose 0.5% month-on-month in September, following a 0.1% fall in August.
Compared to a year ago, house prices were up 2.2%, inching higher from the 2.1% seen in August and higher than the 1.8% that economists predicted.
The average UK house price now sits at £271,995.
"The broad stability in the annual rate of house price growth over the past three months mirrors that of activity," said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist.
Mortgage approvals for house purchase have been hovering at around 65,000 cases per month, he noted, close to the pre-pandemic average.
“Despite ongoing uncertainties in the global economy, underlying conditions for potential home buyers in the UK remain supportive," he said, pointing to relatively low unemployment, solid earnings growth, strong household finances and expectations that borrowing costs are likely to moderate a little further.
"Providing the broader economic recovery is maintained, housing market activity is likely to strengthen gradually in the quarters ahead."
Nationwide also shared quarterly regional data, which showed that the majority of regions saw a modest slowdown in annual house price growth in the third quarter.
England saw further slowing in annual house price growth to 1.6%, from 2.5% in the second quarter.
Average prices in Northern England and Midlands were up 3.4% year on year, with the North-East and Cumbria seeing prices up 5.1% year on year.
Average house price growth in London and southern England slowed to 0.7%.
Northern Ireland remained the strongest performer, with annual house price growth of 9.6%. Wales saw a slight increase in annual house price growth to 3.0%, up from 2.6% in Q2, while growth in Scotland slowed to 2.9% from 4.5%.