October saw the annual rate at which house prices in England and Wales fall hit record numbers, figures have shown.

The Land Registry said homes lost a further 1.5% of their value during the month, leaving the annual fall rate at 10.1% and an average property costing £165,529.

It was the 14th month in a row that the annual rate of growth has declined, leaving property costing around the same as it did in the summer of 2006.

The number of homes changing hands also continued to slide, with an average of only 54,488 properties sold each month between May and August - less than half the average of 118,165 transactions a month during the same period of 2007.

The trend accelerated during August, the last month for which figures are available, with sales totalling 45,437 during the month, 64% fewer than in August last year, with several price bands showing even higher falls.

Only 410 homes were sold for more than £1 million during August, less than half of the 922 properties which changed hands for at least seven figures a year earlier.

All areas of England and Wales are now reporting house price falls on both a monthly and annual basis.

Wales has seen the steepest year-on-year price falls at 12%, followed by the South West at 11.5% and the East at 11.2%.

London has seen the smallest drop in property values, but even in the capital the average house price has fallen by 8.6% during the past year to stand at £320,774.

Wales also saw the biggest fall on a monthly basis, with homes in the region losing a further 2.8% of their value during October, while prices dropped by 2.1% in the South West and North East.

Price falls were slowest in the West Midlands at 0.6%, while in the North West property values eased by 1%.

The figures come the day after Nationwide Building Society reported some rare good news for homeowners, when it said the rate at which house prices were falling eased during November.

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