UK house price growth slowed sharply in April, dropping to just 0.1 pct month-on-month in a reversal of March's sharp 1.1 pct gain, the country's largest building society revealed today. The annual rate also dropped to 4.8 pct in April from 5.3 pct in March, taking the average house price to 163,573 stg, the Nationwide said in its monthly survey of the sector. The figures are well below analysts' expectations for gains of 0.4 pct on the month and 5.2 pct on the year, and go against recent surveys and data which have pointed to strong growth in house prices. Nationwide noted, however, that the cooling in prices in April was "not unexpected" given the surge in March, and said the underlying picture "remains reasonably healthy as demand conditions have remained quite firm".