Nationwide have revealed that across the UK The average price of a home in the UK is now £212,281.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, commented on the figures: “UK house price growth slowed noticeably as 2018 drew to a close, with prices just 0.5% higher than December 2017.

This marks a noticeable slowdown from previous months, where prices had been rising at a c2% pace. However, it is broadly in line with our expectations (since the start of the year we had been anticipating a price rise of c1% in 2018).

Indicators of housing market activity, such as the number of property transactions and the number of mortgages approved for house purchases, have remained broadly stable in recent months, but forward-looking indicators had suggested some softening was likely.

In particular, measures of consumer confidence weakened in December and surveyors reported a further fall in new buyer enquiries towards the end of the year. While the number of properties coming onto the market also slowed, this doesn’t appear to have been enough to prevent a modest shift in the balance of demand and supply in favour of buyers.