UK house prices fell by 0.2% in August, taking the average UK property price to £213,930, according to Halifax.

However, property prices are still 7% higher than during the same period last year. House prices in the three months to August were 6.9% higher than in the same period of 2015, but this is the lowest yearly growth rate since October 2013.

August’s 6.9% annual change was also down from the 8.4% recorded in July and far below the 10% growth rate of March 2016.

The Halifax house price index also revealed that property prices in the three months to August were 0.7% higher than the preceding three months (March – May), but again, the rate of increase has been on a downward trend over the past six months.

Ian Thomas, director of online mortgage lender LendInvest, said: “There have been a number of external factors that have chipped away at the property market in recent months, from the additional Stamp Duty charge to Brexit, with the traditional summer slowdown weighing in as well. While transactions have certainly slowed in central London as a result, the sentiment we get from buyers around the rest of the country is that it is close to business as usual.

“September will be a useful barometer for what comes next for the property market, as transactions tend to pick up once the holiday period is over. Nonetheless the fundamentals of the property market are unchanged – we do not have enough homes, and we aren’t building enough homes to address that shortage. That will act as a brake on any house price softening in the months to come.”