The building society showed that across the UK property prices in the third quarter of 2015 were 3.7 per cent higher than a year ago.

London led this rise, with prices in the capital rising 10.6 per cent in 12 months. The average property in London is now worth £443,399.

Homeowners in Outer London saw prices grow by 9.5 per cent while Northern Irish homes are now valued 6.5 per cent higher than last year. Despite this increase, properties in Northern Ireland are worth an average of £127,562 – the second lowest in the UK.

Only the North East and Cumbria had lower prices, where the typical property was worth £124,345.

Two regions saw house price falls in the last 12 months, Nationwide said. Properties prices in the North West fell by 0.6 per cent to hit £145,816 while in Scotland prices were down 1.3 per cent to £140,402.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said after a sluggish performance over the summer, prices in London were again rising rapidly.

“The slowdown in house price growth since the middle of 2014 has not been confined to, nor has it been driven primarily by, developments in London,” he said.

“Indeed, the capital has continued to see price growth at or above the rate in the UK overall over the past four quarters. The annual rate of price growth in London is currently the highest in the country and actually accelerated to 10.6 per cent in Q3, up from 7.3 per cent in Q2.

“Taking a wider view, regional house price performance was mixed in Q3. Eight UK regions recorded a slowdown in the annual rate of growth, while five saw acceleration. Most parts of the country continued to see annual house price gains – the exceptions were Scotland and the North West which both recorded small declines.”

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