UK house prices fall 1.4 per cent - Nationwide

British house prices fell 1.4 per cent this month to post their biggest annual drop since comparable records began in 1991, the Nationwide building society said yesterday.

The 12th consecutive monthly drop highlights the reversal of fortune for the property market since the credit crunch took hold last summer. Nevertheless, last month's fall was smaller than the declines registered in each of the previous three months.

The annual drop of 14.6 per cent took the average price of a property in Britain to £158,872 (€200,609), almost £30,000 less than their peak a year ago.

"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," said Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist.