Hometrack’s latest survey shows a further fall in house prices across England and Wales.

Average house prices have fallen in England and Wales for the second consecutive month, according to the property consultancy Hometrack.

Prices have fallen by 0.2% in November, following a 0.1% drop in October; the annual rate of growth has now fallen to 3.6%, down from 6.4% in June of this year.

Prices are dropping in one in five postal districts, with the worst-affected areas in the East Midlands and Avon, Buckinghamshire and Leicestershire. In Central London, falls of as much as 0.5% have been recorded.

Hometrack also reported that a property is staying on the market for eight weeks on average, up from 6.9 weeks a month ago, and that properties are selling for an average 93.8% of the asking price, down from 94.8%.

Richard Donnell, Hometrack’s Director of Research, said: “Continuing media focus on the fallout from the credit squeeze, along with relatively high interest rates, is resulting in widespread caution among homeowners, the majority of whom do not need to move.

“The Christmas slowdown looks to have started early but the underlying market conditions remain weak, with new buyer registrations down by 26% over the last five months.”

He continued: “Most people are now waiting to see if there will be an improvement in market sentiment in the new year. While the economic fundamentals remain strong it is hard to see the catalyst for any short-term turnaround in market confidence other than interest rate cuts.”

The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) also revealed on 23 November that new mortgage approvals had dropped to 44,105 in October, the lowest since its records began a decade ago. The BBA said that the total value of mortgages granted was £15.1 billion last month, down by 25.4% in a year.