House prices fell by almost £60 every day in December

HOUSE prices fell by nearly £60 a day last month as the worst year for the property market since 2013 drew to an end.

The value of a typical home dropped by £1,763 in December alone – the equivalent of £56.87 a day, according to figures from mortgage lender Nationwide. The 0.7 per cent decline, to £212,281, was the largest monthly fall since July 2012.

The slump left prices just 0.5 per cent higher than they were a year earlier – the slowest annual rate of growth since February 2013.

The figures will fuel fears that the housing market is running out of steam and could face a correction or even a crash in the coming months.

That would spell misery for millions of homeowners, particularly those with large mortgages – although it would be welcomed by first-time buyers struggling to get on the property ladder.

Nationwide’s figures pointed to a new North-South divide emerging in the housing market – with London and the South-East struggling while the rest of the country fares better. The building society said prices in London fell 0.8 per cent last year while the so-called ‘outer metropolitan’ region around the capital suffered a 1.4 per cent decline. The rest of the South East stagnated.

Across England, prices in the East Midlands rose 4 per cent, while there was a 3.7 per cent gain in Yorkshire and Humberside, 2.9 per cent in the West Midlands, 2.2 per cent in the North West, 2 per cent in the South West and East Anglia and 1 per cent in the North.

Prices were up 5.8 per cent in Northern Ireland and 4 per cent in Wales – but in Scotland, they rose just 0.9 per cent in 2018.

Economic forecaster Ernst & Young Item Club predicted prices would depend on the outcome of Brexit, saying they could rise by 2 per cent this year if there is a deal, but warned that prices would fall by around 5 per cent if the UK leaves without a deal.

‘The South East stagnated’