UK house prices fell for the fourth month in a row this month, according to building society Nationwide, marking the worst run since the financial crisis of 2008.

In December, house prices fell 0.1% on a monthly basis, easing from a monthly fall of 1.4% in November. On an annual basis, house prices rose 2.8% in December, slowing from growth of 4.4% the month before.

The average UK house price stood at GBP262,068 in December, down from GBP263,788 a month before.

“While financial market conditions have settled, mortgage rates are taking longer to normalise and activity in the housing market has shown few signs of recovery,” said Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner.

“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.”