House prices continue to fall

The average house price in the UK continued to slide in August, as consumers found it increasingly hard to obtain a mortgage and get onto the property ladder.

Figures from Rightmove.co.uk showed that the average asking price for a property dipped 2.3 per cent over the month, following a 1.8 per cent fall during July.

The result is that the typical home now costs £229,816 – down from £242,500 in May this year.

According to the survey, homes in London have seen the biggest prices declines. The typical property in the capital saw its value drop by £21,000 in a month.

"Sellers coming to the market in the middle of the summer holiday season tend to be more motivated," commented Miles Shipside, commercial director for Rightmove.

"Despite some deals being done at prices that begin to address affordability concerns, the number of transactions this year is in danger of being the lowest since 1959."

He added that this raised "serious questions" about whether short-term incentives by the likes of the Bank of England or the government "would be effective in speeding up the market recovery".

Recent figures from the Ministry of Justice showed that the number of homeowners in England and Wales facing repossession increased significantly in the quarter ending in July.