House price growth within the UK housing market showed strong indications of what is to come in 2015, as December saw fundamental figures take a slide. With the general election coming within months and new, stricter lending measures, the housing market is expected to see many within the market take a breath and do some thinking before making any decisions about purchasing or remortgaging.

According to Nationwide, house price growth in December was slowest for the year and property price inflation slowed to 7.2% compared with a much higher 8.5% in the month of November. However, according to HSBC, buyers should not expect to see prices fall much more through the rest of the year.

HSBC economist Liz Martins, commented on the housing market and what can be expected until the election takes place, saying: "Momentum in the housing market has slowed and demand will likely remain soft in the run-up to the election.

"But falling mortgage rates, stamp duty reforms and supply constraints make it hard to be too negative.

"Away from the prime London market, which is governed by separate forces and looks set for further downside, we find it hard to be too negative on the UK property market."

Martins added: "On regulation, the impact has been significant: 97% of mortgages are now income verified, and banks have reduced the proportion of new lending at higher loan-value ratios.

"But this is only a small segment of the market anyway and there are indications – not least the increasingly competitive pricing – that banks' appetite to lend is increasing once more."