"It (the UK housing market) is healthy and strong, but it's nothing to raise your eyebrows. It's nothing that I'd describe as extraordinary," Nationwide Chief Executive Graham Beale told Reuters on Friday.

"We've seen this year annualised house price inflation of about 3-4 percent and we'd expect that to continue."

He said the London market could cool from recent price growth of just over 10 percent, however.

"My expectation is you will see a dampening of prices (in London) as there comes a point when it (the price) overwhelms the growth in wages," he said.

Beale was speaking after customer-owned Nationwide (>> Nationwide Building Society) said its profits jumped by more than a quarter in its latest six months, driven by record mortgage lending.

(Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Mark Potter)