The annual pace of change continued to display a picture of relative stability, with house prices down 0.9% compared to October 2011.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist said a number of one-off factors such as the Olympics, provided a significant boost to activity in Q3.

“After contracting for three quarters in a row, the UK emerged from recession in style, with the economy growing by 1% in the three months to September, almost twice as much as most analysts had expected.

“With households and the public sector focused on repairing their finances rather than spending, the economic recovery is likely to remain fairly sluggish, especially since headwinds look set to intensify in the quarters ahead. In particular, clouds are gathering over the global outlook.”

Ashley Alexander, director MeetMyAgent.co.uk, added: “If you were going to write an end of year report on the UK housing market, you would probably give it a C+ accompanied by the words: ‘Showing signs of improvement but could do better.’”