Sterling showed little reaction to news on Friday that house prices in Britain rose by 0.5 percent this month, bringing the total gain in 2005 to 3 percent - the weakest full-year increase in 10 years, according to Nation-wide building society.
That is a sharp slowdown from the 12.7 percent annual gain seen in 2004 but nevertheless added to signs that Britain's residential property market is stabilising, as the latest yearly rate exceeded the 2.4 percent seen in November.
By 1135 GMT sterling was down 0.1 percent against the dollar at $1.7217. The currency has fallen 10 percent in 2005 - its steepest annual loss against the dollar since 1992.
The pound lost 19 percent that year, when Britain abruptly left the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, a precursor to the euro, amid big speculative bets against sterling.
Sterling lost ground in 2005 as rising US interest rates have eaten away at the pound's rate advantage over the dollar.
Against the euro, the pound was down 0.1 percent at 68.72 pence on Friday. The euro has fallen almost three percent against the pound in 2005.