UK house prices fell for the third consecutive monthly fall in May - the first time this has occurred since 2009.

According to Nationwide building society the annual rate of growth slowed to 2.1per cent which was the weakest in almost four years.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "It is still early days, but this provides further evidence that the housing market is losing momentum.

"Moreover, this may be indicative of a wider slowdown in the household sector, though data continues to send mixed signals in this regard.

"While real incomes are again coming under pressure as inflation has overtaken wage growth, the number of people in work has continued to rise at a healthy pace. Indeed, the unemployment rate fell to a 42-year low in the three months to March.

"If history is any guide, the slowdown is unlikely to be linked to election-related uncertainty. Housing market trends have not traditionally been impacted around the time of general elections. Rightly or wrongly, for most home buyers, elections are not foremost in their minds while buying or selling their home."

Picture: Nationwide