First-time buyers have struggled to get on to the market House prices dropped in October compared with the previous month as the property market saw an autumn fall, according to the Nationwide.
The building society said that prices were down 0.7% compared with September, with the average home now costing £164,381.
The more reliable three-month on three-month comparison showed prices fell by 1.5% in October.
The average home still costs 1.4% more than it did a year ago.
However, this was closer to parity than in September, when the difference was 3.1%.
"If the recent trend in house prices were to continue through November and December, the annual rate of house price inflation would drop to between 0% and -1% by the end of 2010," said Nationwide's chief economist Martin Gahbauer.
The drop in prices would generally be good news for those trying to get on the property ladder.
But first-time buyers still face the demand for high deposits from lenders, who are keen not to hand out mortgages to those who may be at higher risk of defaulting.
A separate report by the Home Builders Federation said that the average first-time buyer would need to save all their earnings for two years to get on the property ladder.
This meant that the average age of a first-time buyer, unassisted by their parents or other family, was 37 years old.
"First-time buyers - the life-blood of the housing market - are almost entirely shut out," said Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the federation.
"We desperately need an increase in lending and a properly functioning and sustainable mortgage market."
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-11638433
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