Asking house prices in England and Wales have fallen for the third consecutive month. According to figures released by rightmove.co.uk, asking house prices fell by 0.1% which took the average asking price to £189,509, which is 3.4% below the peak figure of £196,198 recorded in July 2004. Following the property boom during the first half of last year, property prices have now fallen five times during the last six months.

These figures confirm a separate report, recently published by the Halifax, which reveals that property prices outside the south east of England have been slowing significantly. Martin Ellis, chief economist at the Halifax, said that he expected this trend to continue.