LONDON (Reuters) – British house prices rose by more than expected in November and for a fifth month in a row, mortgage lender Halifax said on Thursday.

House prices rose 0.5 percent month-on-month after a 0.3 percent rise in October, Halifax said, topping the consensus in a Reuters poll of economists for a 0.2 percent rise.

But house price growth slowed on an annual basis to 3.9 percent, following a 4.5 percent rise in October.

“The imbalance between supply and demand continues to support house prices, which doesn’t look like changing in the near future,” said Russell Galley, managing director of Halifax Community Bank.