House price growth has fallen according to the latest house price index by Nationwide.

UK house prices rose by 0.3 per cent in May compared to the 1 per cent growth seen in April, while annual house price growth fell from 5.2 per cent in April to 4.6 per cent in May.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said the figures continued on the downward trend started last summer.

“Over the longer term we would expect house price growth to converge with earnings growth, which has typically been around 4 per cent per annum,” said Robert.

“However, much will depend on supply side developments in recent years - the rate of building activity has remained well below that required to keep up with population growth.”

Charlie Wells, Managing Director of buying agency Prime Purchase, said the housing market was livelier than ever but the problem has been stock levels.

“There is not a lot of property on the market. Vendors who have been sitting on their hands because of election uncertainty are not yet making the decision to sell up,” said Charlie.

 “Vendors may be waiting until the summer is out of the way and planning on selling in the autumn when everyone is back from their holidays so it may be too early to tell whether this situation will change.

“But with interest rates so low, where else would you put your cash to earn the same returns? Property is about the best investment for your money right now and even with annual house-price growth dipping slightly, it’s still doing a lot better than the alternatives.”