Average UK home has lost £35,000 in a year as prices fall for 15th consecutive month

House prices in January fell for the 15th month running, the longest stretch on record, according to figures from Nationwide.

The average UK home lost £2,500 or 1.3% of its value, according to the building society. The annual rate of decline is now a record 16.6%. The average home has lost £35,000 since the market peak of October 2007.

Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's senior economist, said: “The price of a typical house fell by a further 1.3% in January, as the deepening economic recession and financial market turbulence continued to weigh on housing market sentiment and activity.”

He said that the quarterly rate of change, which is generally seen as a smoother indicator of short-term trends in prices, had improved for the fourth month in a row.

The price drop from the three months to the end of January was 4%, following a drop of 4.2% during the previous three-month period. Gahbauer refused to call a long-term trend.

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