Annual growth in UK house prices slowed further “sharply” in December, financial institution Nationwide said on Friday, adding that in the last month of 2022 prices were also posting their worst slump since 2008 over a monthly basis.

In annual terms, house price growth slowed to 2.8% in December from 4.4% in November, Nationwide said, compared with growth of 2.3% expected in a Reuters poll.

Nationwide said prices fell 0.1% in December compared with November, the fourth straight monthly price decline and the worst streak since the financial crisis. A Reuters poll of economists pointed to a drop of 0.7%.

“Although financial market conditions have stabilized, mortgage rates are taking longer to normalize and activity in the housing market has shown little sign of recovery,” Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said in a statement.

“It will be difficult for the market to regain much momentum in the near term as economic headwinds strengthen, with real incomes set to fall further and the labor market broadly projected to weaken as the economy contracts.”

Categorized in: