House prices fall in December

The latest house price data produced by Nationwide has revealed that house prices have fallen by 0.5 per cent this month.

According to the firm, the average price of a property now stands at £182,080, compared with £184,099 in November.

Fionnuala Earley, chief economist at Nationwide, said that demand has been affected by interest rate rises and "weak" affordability.

"As funding conditions have tightened and risk aversion has risen amongst banks, there has been a decline in the availability of mortgages at the riskier end of the borrowing spectrum," she explained.

However, the availability of credit within the prime lending market has been "largely unaffected", she commented.

In related news, Adrian Coles, director general of the Building Societies Association, recently advised people coming to the end of their fixed-rate mortgage deals to "consider their options".

According to the expert, many borrowers may find that their mortgage repayments increase when their current deal comes to an end.

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