British house prices fell in June, taking the annual rate of increase to its weakest in nine years, the Nationwide building society said this morning.
House prices fell 0.2% this month, leaving them up just 4.1% on the year - the slowest annual rate since July 1996 compared with expansion of 5.5% last month. Prices were rising by nearly 20% a year earlier.
Nationwide said the latest figures supported its view that house price inflation would decelerate through the rest of the year as the market adjusts to lower levels of turnover.
The report is likely to boost concerns that the British economy is slowing after five interest rate hikes in 18 months, coming on the heels of a survey showing retail sales fell at their fastest pace in at least 22 years this month.
Many economists expect the Bank of England will cut interest rates from their current 4.75% within the next few months in order to boost flagging consumer demand.
