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This month’s homeowners selling their properties have cut their average asking prices by 3.2%, the biggest monthly fall recorded since December 2007.

According to Rightmove’s house price index prices have fallen in four out of the last five months, caused by tough economic conditions and restricted mortgage availability.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “Agents report that the Christmas slowdown has come early this year, as both would-be buyers and sellers are adopting a ‘wait and see’ policy until the direction of next year’s housing market becomes apparent. The combination of high unsold stocks, the mortgage famine, a shaky economy and the normal winter slowdown gives an ideal scenario for bargain-hunting buyers.

The number of new sellers is falling away too, currently running at 24,028 a week, down 9.1% on the previous month.

Rightmove has also reported a new record for the average time a property stays on the market, which has gone over 100 days for the first time in the history of its house price index.