House price inflation rose last month at the slowest rate since August 2015, figures from Nationwide have revealed.

The Nationwide House Price Index for March recorded prices at £207,308, up 3.5% annually.

The annual rate dropped from 4.5% in February and is just above the low of 3.2% recorded in August 2015.

However, the index also suggests the figure fell 0.3% on a monthly basis using seasonal adjustments.

Here at EYE, unlike many others, we believe numbers are numbers, so if a price is £205,846 in February and £207,308 in March, that means prices actually rose 0.71%.

The outer South-East of England and East Anglia regions were the top performers with prices up 6.9% and 10.1% respectively on an annual basis, compared with just 0.1% in the North.

The report also references data from the latest Government English Housing showing that the home ownership rate dropped to 62.9% in 2016 – the lowest recorded since 1985.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “The counterpart to this trend has been robust growth in the private rental sector, with 20% of households in England now privately rented, a record high, up from 12% ten years ago.

“The number of privately rented households has increased by more than 75% over the past decade and now stands at 4.5m.

“Unsurprisingly, those in the younger age groups are most likely to rent. But interestingly, the strongest increases, in terms of the number of households renting, have been amongst those aged 45-54 and 55-64.”

Commenting on the figures, Jonathan Hopper, managing director of Garrington Property Finders, said: “The market has become a muddled mix of extremes, with double-digit reductions going on at one end of the spectrum and gazumping at the other.

“So it would be overly melodramatic to view the Nationwide’s latest data as a turning point. In reality, average house prices have been meandering for several months against the volatile and uncertain economic backdrop.

“Buyer intent remains strong in many parts of the UK, but buyers have become acutely price sensitive. No one wants to buy a home only to realise they could have got it cheaper if they had waited – so on the front line, prospective buyers are scrutinising prices harder than ever.

“Rapidly rising consumer inflation and a gentle erosion in confidence are likely to leave the property market increasingly rudderless in coming months.

“Average prices will continue to creep up, albeit at a subdued pace as house price to earnings ratios begin to bite in many parts of the country.”