House prices were up marginally at the end of 2010, as they rose by a modest 0.4% in December. This follows two months of house price falls.

The Nationwide reported that house prices were essentially unchanged over the whole of 2010.

Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “The three month on three month rate of change – which smoothes out the monthly volatility of house prices and is a better indicator of the recent trend – rose from -1.3% in November to -1.0% in December and is still consistent with modestly declining house prices. For 2010 as a whole