A closely watched housing measure, calculated by Nationwide, showed the pace of price growth in the United Kingdom weakened to 0.5% from 1.9% last year, showing the smallest 12-month gain since February 2013. The seasonally adjusted change from the previous month was 0.7% below the flat line, against a slight revision upward to 0.4% for November. The reading was the lowest since July 2012. The average price of a home, measured in absolute terms, moved 0.8% down to £212,281, the weakest level since March.
"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 favor of buyers," said chief economist Robert Gardner.
The building society's outlook for this year is growth in "low single digit" terms. The rolling three-month rate was zero last month, after an increase of 0.2% in November.
