The housing market is slowing, with monthly rates of growth that are half those of a year ago, according to Friday’s FT house price index.

House prices in England and Wales rose by 0.5 per cent in August compared with July, in line with the recent trend. The monthly rate has bounced between 0.5 and 0.3 per cent in the past four months – roughly half the prevailing rate of growth last year, when prices were rising between 1.1 and 0.8 per cent in the last four months of the year.