"After fifteen successive monthly increases UK house prices were unchanged in October (after taking account of seasonal factors). As a result, the annual rate of house price growth slowed to 4.6%, from 5.3% in September, though this is still in line with the growth rates prevailing since early 2015.

Measures of housing market activity remain fairly subdued, with the number of residential property transactions c10% below the levels recorded in the same period of 2015 in recent months. However, this weakness may still in part reflect the after-effects of the introduction stamp duty on second homes introduced in April, where buyers brought forward transactions to Q1 to avoid additional stamp duty liabilities (see chart below). Policy changes impacting the Buy to Let market may also be playing a role in dampening activity"- commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist,.