House prices stabilise as number of homes on the market falls

Property values rise slightly for the second month in a row even as transactions and mortgage approvals decline

A shortage of homes for sale has kept house prices rising despite falling consumer incomes and political uncertainty, according to Nationwide.

The building society said the price of the average house went up by 0.3% in July to hit a new peak of 211,671. But the annualised growth figure dropped from 3.1% to 2.9%.