UK house price growth weakest since April 2024 after surprise December drop

LONDON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - British house prices unexpectedly fell by 0.4% in December to finish 2025 just 0.6% higher than the year before, the weakest annual growth since April 2024, monthly figures from mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society showed on Friday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.1% monthly rise to leave prices 1.2% higher than in December 2024.

Prices in November had risen 0.3% on the month and were 1.8% higher than the year before.

Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner said last month's weak annual growth rate partly reflected strong price gains in December 2024 and that the number of mortgage approvals remained similar to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"With price growth well below the rate of earnings growth and a steady decline in mortgage rates, affordability constraints eased somewhat, helping to underpin buyer demand," he added.

Nationwide expected annual house price growth of 2-4% in 2026, he added.

(Reporting by David Milliken, Editing by Paul Sandle)