The price of a typical UK house fell by 0.7% in July, according to Nationwide.

Prices were 2.6% lower than one year ago and the typical price of a home was £164,389.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "UK house prices declined for the fourth time in five months in July, with prices falling by 0.7%. This pushed the annual pace of price growth down to -2.6%, from -1.5% in June - the weakest outturn since August 2009.

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"The weaker price trend observed in recent quarters is unsurprising, given the disappointing performance of the wider economy. Data released last week revealed that the UK recession intensified in the three months to July, with the economy contracting by 0.7% q/q. This disappointing outturn can be only partly explained by unusually wet weather and the impact of an extra bank holiday during the quarter. Indeed, the UK economy has contracted by 1.4% over the past nine months, and is now 4.5 percentage points smaller than it was in Q1 2008."

(CD/GK)