UK house prices fall 1.8% in year to December, says Nationwide

LONDON (Reuters) -British house prices fell by 1.8% in the 12 months to December, a bigger drop than expected, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Friday. Britain's housing market, which enjoyed a boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been hit by higher borrowing costs after the Bank of England pushed up interest rates in its battle against high inflation. But a fall in mortgage rates in recent weeks has led to signs that the market might have bottomed out.