Ashley Webb, economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, said that the dip in house prices shown by Halifax suggested that rising mortgage rates, coupled with weakness in the economy as a whole, “is weighing on housing demand and prices a bit more than we previously thought”. He added that the worsening outlook in the jobs market — which some economists and businesses say has been hit by the Labour government’s increase of national insurance contributions by employers — “may mean house price growth softens further over the coming months”.