House prices in the UK have fallen by almost 15% compared to 12 months ago, according to Nationwide.
The building society’s latest survey claims that property prices fell by 1.4% in the last month, meaning that prices have fallen by 14.6% when compared to October 2007.
That means that the average UK house price stands at £158,872 – a fall of nearly £30,000.
Nationwide, who are the first major lender to report on the state of the housing market, claimed that the falls were being fuelled by a drop in sales, with property purchases at their lowest level for 34 years.
"The number of completed house purchase transactions as a proportion of the total stock of mortgages is now at its lowest ever level since the series started in 1974," said the Nationwide's chief economist, Fionnuala Earley.
"A looming recession and continued financial market instability have uncomfortable implications for the housing and mortgage markets, and will undoubtedly affect the pace of recovery in house prices.
"However, the speed of the economic slowdown and the determination on the part of central banks to return stability to the financial markets does mean that interest rates are likely to continue to be cut sharply," she added.
There was some good news however for would-be buyers and sellers, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchases rising for the first time in a year, according to the Bank of England.
Some 33,000 home loans were approved in September, a rise of 1,000 compared with the record low of the previous month, the Bank said, although mortgage lending was still below the average of the past six months.
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