House prices rose by just 0.2% in December – but somehow also managed to fall, according to Nationwide.

Thanks to our old friend “seasonal adjustment”, despite the “rise”, house prices actually fell from £189,388 in November to £188,559 last month.

Leaving seasonal adjustment out of it, house price inflation last year was 7.2%, compared with 8.5% in 2013, the lender estimates.

December was the fourth month in a row where annual house price inflation slipped, and if Nationwide’s estimate of 7.2% annual house price inflation for 2014 is correct, then a number of commentators were on the money.

These included Rightmove’s Miles Shipside, who forecast a 6-8% rise and Peter Bolton King of the RICS who predicted 8% – and, yes, Nationwide, which forecast somewhere between 4%-8%.

Meanwhile, according to Knight Frank, house prices dipped a tiny 0.1% in prime central London last month as the market started to absorb the Stamp Duty Land Tax changes announced in early December and which hit properties priced above £937,500.

Knight Frank said that “in some instances prices have moderated slightly to reflect the new charges”. It also said that there has been “minimal evidence to date of deals falling through”.

Knight Frank said that December’s tiny fall in prices meant that annual growth in prime central London prices was 5.1% – the lowest in five years.

However, it pointed out those prices have nevertheless risen 52% since the end of 2009.

* According to the Land Registry, the average house price in England and Wales was £176,581 in November – down 0.1% since October and representing annual house price growth of 7.1%.

The figure is still below the peak of November 2007 when the Land Registry recorded an average price of £181,191.