HOUSE prices showed a slight increase last month but are unlikely to move much over the rest of this year, the Halifax has said.

The bank said prices rose by 0.5% month-on-month across the UK in May, following a 2.3% monthly fall in April, to reach £160,941 on average.

In the three months to May, house prices were 0.8% higher than between December 2011 and February this year, marking the biggest increase over three months since last August.

Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis said while there has been a "modest improvement" in prices, they were still similar to a year ago when they were 0.1% lower.

He added: "We expect this situation to continue."