The price of a typical UK home increased by 0.4% in May and was 1.1% higher than May 2012, according to the latest data from Nationwide.
The typical UK home is now worth £167,912.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "House prices edged up by 0.4% in May, providing further support for the view that the housing market is gradually gaining momentum. The three month on three month measure of house prices, which is a smoother measure of the underlying trend, has been in positive territory since October last year. The annual rate of house price growth also ticked up to 1.1% in May - the fastest pace since November 2011.

We provide a comprehensive and flexible range of management services to our landlords to suit experienced, overseas or first time landlords.
We have dedicated lettings teams in Summertown, East Oxford, Headington and Witney handling over 700 properties on behalf of our client landlords, as well as a specialist portfolio management service. We understand that your property is a valuable asset and always endeavour to maintain high professional standards worthy of your complete trust.
Tenant Find Service
This service is designed for professional landlords who are confident in the management of their property and their finances but, at the same time, wish to benefit from scottfraser's expertise in marketing the property and thorough referencing of tenants.
Let & Rent Service
This service is designed for professional landlords who have the knowledge and skills to manage their property but wish to utilise our comprehensive marketing and our professional accounts service.
Full Management Service
This award winning service gives our landlords complete peace of mind. Each property is assigned one of our experienced Property Managers who looks after the property and the tenants on a day-to-day basis, ensuring everything is well maintained and cared for. Over three quarters of our landlords register their properties under our Full Management Service.
Portfolio Management Service
Our Portfolio Management Service is ideal for landlords with three or more properties who require property management with one point of contact and an agent who has expertise in ensuring portfolios achieve a good yield, that void periods are kept to a minimum and that capital values are protected. Our Portfolio Management and Investment departments work closely together to help landlords grow their portfolio with properties perfect for the Oxfordshire lettings market which are often not available on the open market.
All Inclusive Service
Our All Inclusive service is designed to provide landlords with all of the benefits of our Full Management Service but with many set-up and running costs included* in the monthly fee, providing consistency of income throughout the lettings process. This is particularly of benefit to landlords who need to budget effectively throughout the year to meet a strict "bottom line".
Please contact our Branch Managers for more information on our services to landlords.
*Please refer to the All Inclusive Service Information Pack for full details on what is included.
"I would like to put on record how much I appreciate Chris Carter's contribution as property manager. He is consistently calm, reliable and helpful. His reports are well documented with photographs and he has picked up on problems such as leaks on his visits and dealt with them.
I appreciate how good he is. Please convey my gratitude to him."