Nationwide has warned UK house prices unexpectedly fell in August. The average price for a home dropped by 0.1% to £271,079 compared with July, according to Nationwide Building Society.

The annual rate of house price growth slowed to 2.1% in August, from 2.4% in July, Nationwide said.

Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said: “House prices are still high compared with household incomes, making raising a deposit challenging for prospective buyers, especially given the intense cost of living pressures in recent years.

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“Combined with the fact that mortgage costs are more than three times the levels prevailing in the wake of the Covid pandemic, this means that the cost of servicing a mortgage is also a ba

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