House prices were unchanged over August, for the first time in 20 months since November 2005, according to Hometrack.

This is the fifth consecutive month that month-on-month house price growth has slowed. While weaker market conditions are to be expected over the summer, Hometrack believes this is further evidence of a more deep-rooted slowdown resulting from increased affordability pressures and more cautious buyers.

Richard Donnell, Hometrack’s director of research, said: “The housing market faces a testing time over the rest of the year. The increases in interest rates over the last 12 months have pushed average debt servicing costs to a 15-year high, and this will continue to take its toll on levels of market activity and house price inflation over the next 12-18 months.

“Buyer confidence has been weakening on the back of increased affordability pressures over recent months but the turmoil in the global equity markets has added a new external dimension. If this continues it is likely to further undermine market sentiment which will drive weaker levels of demand into the autumn and further undermine the rate of house price growth.”