Nationwide: house price growth slows in May

Pace of growth resumes downward trend according to latest Nationwide Index.

Annual house price growth has slowed to 4.6%, according to the latest figures from the Nationwide House Price Index.

Annual price rises have been on a gradual downward trend since last summer, which was briefly interrupted in April when annual house price growth edged up from 5.1% to 5.2%.

The building society says annual house price growth is now running at less than half the pace seen from mid-2014.

The average price of a UK home is now £195,166, according to the index, following a 0.3% increase in May.

House price growth

Here’s how prices have changed over the past 12 months, according to the Nationwide House Price Index.

	Monthly change % (seasonally adjusted)	Annual % change	Average house price
May 2014	0.7%	11.1%	£186,512
June 2014	1.0%	11.8%	£188,903
July 2014	0.2%	10.6%	£188,949
August 2014	0.8%	11.0%	£189,306
September 2014	-0.1%	9.4%	£188,374
October 2014	0.6%	9.0%	£189,333
November 2014	0.3%	8.5%	£189,388
December 2014	0.2%	7.2%	£188,559
January 2015	0.3%	6.8%	£188,446
February 2015	-0.1%	5.7%	£187,964
March 2015	0.1%	5.1%	£189,454
April 2015	1.0%	5.2%	£193,048
May 2015	0.3%	4.6%	£195,166

Source: Nationwide

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What’s going to happen to house prices?

Nationwide said it expects house price growth to move at a similar rate as earnings growth, which has typically been around 4% per year.

But the building society warned that this prediction relies on what happens with the supply of property, noting that in recent years the rate of building activity has remained well below what is required to keep up with population growth.

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