New figures show that British house prices rose 0.4% in December from November. Lender Nationwide's price index had fallen in the previous two months.
'For 2010 as a whole, house prices posted an unremarkable gain of 0.4%, as most of the price increases from the first half of the year were reversed during the second half,' Nationwide chief economist Martin Gahbauer said.
He added that 2011 was likely to see a 'slow drift down in house prices' amid Britain's fragile economic recovery.
The average value of a home in Britain stood at £162,763 (€188,797) in December, according to Nationwide.
The quarter-on-quarter figure, which is a more stable indicator of UK house price movements because it averages out monthly fluctuations, was down 1% compared with 1.3% a month ago.
'Despite December's increase, house prices have fallen in four out of the last six months and it would be premature to suggest that the recent downward trend has been broken on the basis of one month's figures,' Mr Gahbauer said.
House prices lost most of their gains from the first half of the year as mortgages became more difficult to secure and the British government's decision to scrap home information packs caused an increasing number of properties to be put on the market, he added.
Mr Gahbauer warned that house prices could show greater declines if the Bank of England decided to raise its interest rate above its historic low of 0.5% earlier than he expected next year.
