Annual house price inflation increased for the first time in three months as the gap between the strongest and weakest regions also shrunk, Nationwide says.

The Nationwide House Price Index for June records a 3.1% increase in property values to £211,301, up from 2.1% annual house price inflation in May.

Price growth had been slipping from 4.5% in February to 3.5% in March and 2.5% in April.

On a monthly basis, prices increased 1.1% this month, more than reversing the 0.2% decline in May.

Meanwhile, the gap between the best and worst performing region was the lowest on record.

East Anglia saw annual price growth of 5% to £220,362, while the weakest region, north England, was up 1% to £125,237.

Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said: “In effect, after two sluggish months, annual price growth has returned to the 3-6% range that had been prevailing since early 2015.”

Commenting on the figures, Lucy Pendleton, director of James Pendleton estate agents, said: “The housing market has come up for air, which is incredible in a month that saw one of the least conclusive General Elections ever.

“For the market to bounce slightly across the country as a whole in such adverse conditions says something about the way solid demand and weak supply are cushioning the market.

“However, it may be short-lived. A gentle slide in prices could continue but it’s got less to do with Brexit and more to do with four factors that can be the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse for markets – inflation, consumer credit, wage growth and mortgage activity – all of which have been dragging their heels recently.”

* Figures from Savills have shown average prime London values slipped 0.9% the second quarter, leaving them 5.3% down year-on-year and 6.9% below their mid-2014 peak.

Savills says that despite these recent drops, ten years on from the credit crunch, prime London gains are 29.7%.