House price growth has now slowed in all UK regions, falling for a fourth month in a row in December, the longest run of declines since 2008.

Price growth down to 2.8% in December, according to the Nationwide in its latest research today (December 30)

That price change is particularly marked in the south-west England, where the annual rate fell from 12.5% to 4.3% in the last quarter.

However the average price of a home in the South West is, they report, still higher than many regions and is now at £307,588.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "December saw a further sharp slowdown in annual house price growth to 2.8%, from 4.4% in November. Prices fell by 0.1% month-on-month – a much smaller decline than in the previous couple of months. However, December also marked the fourth consecutive monthly price fall - the worst run since 2008, which left prices 2.5% lower than their August peak (after taking account of seasonal effects). "

He added : "It will be hard for the market to regain much momentum in the near term as economic headwinds strengthen, with real earnings set to fall further and the labour market widely projected to weaken as the economy shrinks.