Average home price slips by 0.9%

The property market continued its downward slide during August, a report has revealed, with figures showing an 0.9% drop in the average price of a home.

Nationwide said the picture had been exacerbated by a 0% quarter-on-quarter growth rate for the three months to the end of August, backing up the widely-held impression that the market’s traditional summer bounce had gone missing.

The annual rate of change also weakened for the fourth consecutive month to stand at 3.9%, the lowest year-on-year rise since November last year.

The stark figures come after Bank of England statistics earlier this week suggested that the housing market could be heading for a double dip, with the number of loans approved for house purchase sliding to just 48,722 during July.

Nationwide warned that, barring a strong resurgence in September, the quarterly growth rate was likely to turn negative next month.

Copyright Press Association 2010