House prices are falling at their fastest rate since the 1990s house price crash, losing 6.1% of their value during the past year, Britain's biggest mortgage lender has said.

The average cost of a home slid by a further 2% during June, to bring falls so far this year to 8.9%, according to Halifax.

The annual rate at which prices are dropping continued to accelerate during the month, increasing to 6.1%, the highest level since March 1993 and close to the record annual fall of 8.3% reached in December 1992.

On a quarterly basis, homes in the UK lost a record 5.5% of their value during the three months to the end of June, compared with the previous three month period, although this measure of prices changes is more volatile than on an annual basis.

Halifax said the average home now cost £180,344 - the same as in August 2006, although prices are still 2% higher than two years ago and 40% higher than five years ago.

The figures are in line with those reported by Nationwide Building Society last week which showed that house prices fell for the eighth month in a row during June, dropping by 0.9%.

At the same time annual house price growth fell to minus 6.3%, the lowest level since December 1992.

Seema Shah, property economist at Capital Economics, said: "Today's data does nothing to dilute concerns that the housing market is in the initial stages of an extremely sharp correction.

"Slowing economic activity, combined with continued problems in the mortgage markets, suggest that further sharp falls lie in the pipeline."

The group expects house prices to fall by 15% this year and by 35% over three years.

House prices are falling due to a combination of stretched affordability following strong growth in recent years, and the problems people face getting a mortgage as a result of the credit crunch.

These factors are causing potential buyers to stay away from the market, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase falling by 64% year-on-year during May to reach a record low.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at Global Insight, said: "The latest data on the housing market continue to be very worrying, and there appears to be no let up in the current downward spiral.

"Clearly, the downward pressure on house prices coming from very low activity, stretched buyer affordability and tight lending continues to bite very hard."

He said Global Insight had now increased its forecast for house price falls to 15% for this year, followed by 12% in 2009, meaning prices will have dived by 26% from their August 2007 peak by the end of next year.

But Martin Ellis, Halifax's chief economist, said the housing market continued to be underpinned by strong fundamentals.

He said: "A strong labour market, low interest rates and a shortage of new houses underpin housing valuations."

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