House prices rise by 0.5 per cent in May after April dip

Iain McKenzie, chief executive of the Guild of Property Professionals, said: “After the surge in transactions earlier this year, driven by the stamp duty deadline, April’s drop in sales was expected. It’s likely we’ll see a short period of adjustment but agent sentiment, as captured in the latest (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) data, suggests optimism for the second half of the year.”