The latest Halifax house price index has revealed that house prices dropped by 2.3 percent last month.
House prices fell by 2.3 percent in February according to the country's biggest mortgage lender.
The Halifax house price index recorded yet another fall in the average price of a UK home, leaving it at £160,327, 17.7 percent lower than February 2008's figure. A two percent increase had been recorded during January but this has now been wiped out by February's fall.
Britain's property market has been in steady decline since the onset of the credit crunch. A variety of factors have impacted on it, including a lack of mortgage availability and a lack of demand because of decreased consumer confidence.
Despite the gloomy outlook and the continued fall in market value, Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis pointed to some hope for the future, claiming that there are "tentative signs" that prices could be stabilising. He said: "The house price to earnings ratio - a key measure of housing affordability - has fallen to its lowest level for six years."
But, Mr Ellis did not believe that a recovery would take place soon. "Continuing pressures on incomes, rising unemployment and the negative impact of the dislocation of the financial markets on the availability of mortgage finance are, however, likely to mean that 2009 will be another difficult year for the housing market," he said.
