-->LONDON (Reuters) - House price growth accelerated in December after a brief slowdown in November when the Bank of England raised rates for the first time in almost four years, the Nationwide Building Society says.

The mortgage lender said on Wednesday house prices grew by a seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent in December, higher than the 1.2 percent recorded in November after the BoE hiked its base rate by a quarter point to 3.75 percent.

The annual rate of increase was 15.6 percent compared with a 25 percent rise last year. The Nationwide forecast house prices were set to rise a slower rate of nine percent in the year to December 2004.

The Nationwide said the absence of first-time buyers came as affordability became increasingly stretched for that section of buyers.

"Turnover during 2003 fell to the lowest level since the mid-1990s as first time buyers stayed out of the market," said Alex Bannister, Nationwide's economist.

"The low number of first-time buyers is a sign that the market is cooling naturally. We would be concerned to see, as happened in the late eighties, buyers taking on ever increasing amounts of debt in order get onto the property ladder," he said.

The average price of a house in December rose to 135,444 pounds from 133,388 pounds in the previous month.

Houses in London remained the most expensive in the country. Despite a narrowing in regional price differentials this year, a typical London property now cost 96,000 pounds more than the same property in the East Midlands and 128,000 more than an average home in Scotland.

The BoE tightened its monetary policy in November partly because it thought house prices are rising too strongly. It fears that the longer the housing market boom continues, the greater the risk of a sharp crash in the future.

But the Nationwide said it doubted if expected interest rate rises will have much effect on house buyers.

"Our view is that most borrowers can cope with a small rise in interest rates," the report said.

"If base rates do end next year at 4.75 percent then a typical recent buyer will see their payments rise from 27 percent to 31 percent of take-home pay," it said.