British house prices fell by 0.9 percent in September according to mortgage lender Halifax, with the price of flats rising faster than houses.

Price growth slowed 8.6 percent, down from 9 percent in the previous quarter. The contrasts with their results for August, which showed surprisingly fast price growth. Rival Nationwide’s measure echoes that trend, finding that growth has actually increased more quickly in September than August.

The biggest surprise in the results is the difference between the growth of flats and houses. Over the last decade, Halifax have found that the value of flats has risen by 60 percent, compared to houses which have risen by 38 percent. The average price of a UK home now stands at £202,859.