According to figures released by the Nationwide building society, house prices went up by 0.9% during June. This news has been welcomed by debt management providers, since an end to the housing slump could offer additional options to over indebted consumers by way of debt consolidation loans.

The Nationwide confirmed that house prises have risen in three of the last four months, which means that the average UK house is now worth £156,442. The building society was up beat about stabilisation in the housing market, describing the figures as a welcome surprise.

The lowest average valuation, since the onset of the recession, was in February this year, where the value of the average house was nearly £9,000 less than today’s figure. The fact that there have now been three increases, since February, suggests that we could have turned the corner, with regards to the housing slump; however some financial commentators would still urge caution.

For consumers with severe financial difficulties, the housing crash has only added to their troubles, by narrowing their debt solution choices. Historically, debt consolidation loans were the most popular option when trying to sort out debt problems. The sharp fall in house prices have put paid to that.

With house values on the way up, it means that some consumers will have sufficient equity in their home, in order to raise a secured loan, or remortgage, for debt consolidation purposes. Debt management specialist don’t always recommend consolidation loans as the best option for dealing with debt worries, but at least the choice is now available again.

What has puzzled some observers is that the increase in house values has taken place in a market where transaction activity is still extremely low. Despite the historically low number of house sales, the average price for the last three months was 0.9% higher than the previous quarter. This represents the first quarterly increase since December 2007.