The pace of house price increases slowed at the end of 2009, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has said.

Its survey for December found that 30% more surveyors saw prices rise than fall during that month.

However, the positive balance was lower than in either October or November.

The government's own housing survey has found that UK property prices rose by 1.7% in November, leaving them 0.6% higher than in November 2008.

The figures, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), confirm the upward trend in prices recorded by other house price surveys during the course of 2009.

The government figures put the average UK house price at £200,454, and suggest that the pace of price increases picked up during the six month period to November.

Source: BBC News