UK house prices edge up 0.1% in June

British house prices rose just 0.1 percent on the month in June, down from a 0.5 percent rise in May, the Nationwide building society said on Wednesday, in a further sign that the housing market recovery is cooling.

House price increases have dipped from stronger rises of around one percent in March and April, Nationwide said, and the annual rate of house price inflation eased to 8.7 percent this month from 9.8 percent in May.

The figures were broadly in line with forecasts from a Reuters poll of analysts which pointed to a rise of 0.2 percent on the month and 9.0 percent on the year in June.

The price of an average house stood at 170,111 pounds ($256,200) after a three percent rise in prices in the first half of the year, the building society said.

Nationwide's chief economist Martin Gahbauer said the market appeared to have stabilised after strong price increases over the last year and as more people try to sell their homes.

"Recent indicators point to an increase in the supply of property coming to the market for sale," Gahbauer said.

"With the level of demand remaining broadly stable, this would in part help to explain the recent slowdown observed in the rate of house price inflation."

The Bank of England figures on Tuesday showed mortgage approvals unexpectedly stagnated in May at levels well below the peaks of last year and far beneath the heights hit during the housing market boom of the last decade.

The Halifax house price survey has recorded house price falls in May and April.

Most economists believe the housing market will cool in the second half of this year as Britain's economy struggles to recover after an 18-month recession as the government tackles a record budget deficit of around 11 percent of national output.