Detached house prices plummet £270 a day as property market enters slowdown

They saw an average of £8,394 wiped off the value of their homes in four weeks late last year. This works out at £270 a day.

The average price of a detached house dropped by 2.4 per cent in November, bringing misery to thousands of families who have recently paid a fortune for a new home.

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The figures, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, showed that most types of houses were hit by the market downturn.

The price of semi-detached houses dropped by 0.3 per cent, flats by 0.6 per cent and bungalows by 0.9 per cent in November.

Many victims of the housing downturn will be in the South-East, where the majority of detached homes are located.

Yesterday, experts warned homeowners to brace themselves for more price falls.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: 'Further weakness in the housing market is likely over the coming months.'

Kelvin Davidson, property economist at Capital Economics, added: 'Price falls will become more common.'

His company predicted that prices will fall by 5 per cent this year and 8 per cent next year.

Overall, the Government figures showed that prices fell by £1,865, or £60 a day, to an average of £218,330 across all property types.

The drop in prices was caused by many factors, including a lack of confidence among buyers and banks' reluctance to hand out mortgages.

Research published yesterday, showed that lenders are rushing to axe 100 per cent mortgage deals.

In the past, lenders have been happy to sign off on mortgages worth 100 per cent, or more, on a new home.

But they are clamping down on these to protect themselves from buyers who will be most at risk from a market downturn.

Since the beginning of December, 11 lenders - including big names such as Alliance & Leicester - have begun demanding a bigger deposit from buyers.

David Knight, mortgage analyst at Moneyfacts, the financial information firm, said: 'This more cautious approach of lenders starting to reduce their exposure to the property price fluctuations shows that they have a real concern over the future of the UK housing market.'

Richard Donnell, director of research at property information firm Hometrack, said potential buyers are in short supply.

'There has been a drop in the number of people registering with estate agents,' he went on.

'The rapid turnaround in market conditions means that asking prices will take a hit.'

The Government figures are the latest sign that the property boom is finally over.

Nationwide, Britain's biggest building society, revealed recently that average house prices fell in both November and December.