Prices slip again in January

The 0.3 per cent reduction in the average house price echoed Hometrack's reports from December, showing that whilst prices are indeed falling, they are doing so at a relatively stable rate.

Properties are now taking 8.5 weeks to sell, the longest recorded time since the survey began in 2001.

Hometrack's director of research, Richard Donnell, stressed that the continued trimming of house prices was still small when put in context of the gains seen in the past few years.

"Underlying prices are still being supported by a continued tightening in the supply of homes for sale, a trend that is likely to continue," he said.

"The short term outlook for market activity hinges as much around the outlook for UK interest rates as it does the outlook for financial markets."

In today's buyers' market, asking prices are coming under the greatest pressure. The proportion of homes where the asking price is achieved has declined to 93.5 per cent, down from an average closer to 96 per cent a year ago.

Looking ahead, Hometrack believes that the greatest pressure on short-term pricing levels is likely to be in the South West and Eastern regions where the proportion of the asking price being achieved is less than 93 per cent.

Dwindling supply and no immediate improvement predicted on the demand side means that there is likely to be continued downward pressure on prices - especially in London and the South West, areas which have seen the highest reduction in house prices.