The UK housing market showed encouraging signs of recovery in the last quarter according to new homes website SmartNewHomes.com. Although the average house price was down 4% to £255,713 for the year 2005, the last quarter of the year saw a decrease of only 0.1% with 0% change in December. The West Midlands and North West showed the most recovery with 6.2% and 3.1% rises respectively in the last month of the year. Apartments made up 57% of all new properties currently available with detached homes making up 28.6%, revealed the website. Md David Bexon said: “Although 2005 has been a somewhat difficult year for the housing market and the new homes market in particular, it is promising to see signs that 2006 is looking brighter. Shorter term price changes, more indicative of the way the market is turning, have been showing for several months that an upturn is imminent and we confidently expect a return to positive inflation within the next couple of months, albeit at a more realistic and steady rate than that of recent years.”