British house price growth slowed on an annual basis for a fifth month in a row in January, further reducing the risk of a bubble in the housing market, figures from mortgage lender Nationwide showed today.
House prices rose 6.8% from January last year, the slowest increase in 14 months.
The gain was slightly stronger than a forecast for a 6.6% increase in a poll of economists, but down from an increase of 7.2% in December.
On the month, house prices rose 0.3% in January, in line with expectations and up from 0.2% in December, Nationwide said.
Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said the slowdown reflected a 20% fall in mortgage approvals since the start of 2014 and surveyors continued to report subdued levels of new buyer enquiries.
New rules for banks issuing mortgages were introduced last year as the Bank of England and other regulators moved to head off the risk of a bubble in the housing market.
But Gardner said the reasons for the continued slowdown were unclear given the fall in unemployment, wages that have started to rise faster than inflation and high levels of consumer confidence which have helped fuel strong retail sales growth.
"If the economic backdrop continues to improve as we and most forecasters expect, activity in the housing market is likely to regain momentum in the months ahead," he said.
Prices were also likely to be supported by the long-term shortage of new houses coming onto the market.
