Prices in June fell by 1% from the month before, taking the average price of a property to £218,390. Measured on an annual basis, the growth in house prices eased from 3.3% in May to 2.6% in June, the lowest increase for four years. The Halifax said one reason for the slowdown was the fact that consumers were increasingly being squeezed as increases in incomes failed to keep up with inflation. "Although employment levels continue to rise, household finances face increasing pressure as consumer prices grow faster than wages," said Martin Ellis, Halifax's housing economist. "This, combined with the new stamp duty on buy-to-let and second homes in 2016, appears to have weakened housing demand in recent months."