House prices in England recorded their first fall in seven years in the first three months of 2019, according to Nationwide building society.

Nationwide’s latest House Price Index reported that in the first three months of 2019 house prices dipped by 0.7% compared with the same period a year ago, dragged down by a London market that saw prices slump by nearly 4%.

Consumer confidence had weakened at the start of 2019, Nationwide said, with surveyors reporting that new buyer enquiries had continued to fall, down to their lowest level since 2008 in February.