The Nationwide has registered the first double-digit annual decline on its survey for 18 years.
House prices have fallen by 10.5 percent in the past year, Nationwide revealed today.
The lender has released the results of this month's price survey, showing that the typical home now costs around £164,500. In August 2007, this average stood almost £20,000 higher.
Nationwide's survey also registered a one-month price drop of 1.9 percent, up on July's 1.5 percent. The index has been declining since last October.
The new results mean that property in the UK has registered a double-digit percentage point price fall over a 12-month period for the first time since 1990, and proves that the credit crunch maintains its grip on the housing market. Since the onset of the financial crisis, mortgage credit has become much more hard to come by for borrowers, and tightening budgets have meant that buying a home is less of a priority for many.
The firm's chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, commented: "Recent activity levels in the housing market have been very subdued. House builders in particular have been reporting significant reductions in site visits and reservations of new properties since this time last year, in spite of a big increase in the use of sales incentives."
Nationwide is the largest building society in the UK.
Compare mortgages via money.co.uk
