Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said prices were likely to fall around 3pc over the final months of 2010 and that a further drop of around 5pc in house prices looked "highly possible" in 2011.
"On balance, while we believe that a sharp correction in house prices is unlikely ... we believe that they could be some 10pc lower by end-2011," he said.

House prices in Northern Ireland have fallen every month for the past three years, according to a report.

Until 2007, its property prices were rising faster than anywhere else in Europe but since then prices have fallen in some areas by as much as 60%.

The latest report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) suggests prices have fallen continuously since August 2007.

Yes there is always "There is no bubble, this time it is different" speech form all the vested interests. That fact is that it is a bubble if the prices are in excess of 4 times average earnings. It might take a while before it bursts but it is still a bubble.

Before Maggie deregulated the mortgage market there were booms and busts in property by they were very mild in comparison. All that the deregulation has achieved is the financial destruction of many when they get foreclosed. It has led to even bigger and more savage price bubbles.

High Street banks have not been passing on base rate cuts in full to household borrowers, a report has found.

The interest rate charged on some loans has risen, the article in the Bank of England's quarterly bulletin found.

Much of the divergence was due to the borrowing cost of banks themselves - which has not fallen as steeply as base rates - and higher charges because of higher default risk.

However, a large part could be down to banks pricing in fatter profit margins.

Before Maggie deregulated the mortgage market there were booms and busts in property by they were very mild in comparison. All that the deregulation has achieved is the financial destruction of many when they get foreclosed. It has led to even bigger and more savage price bubbles.

That analysis misses a simple trick though surely?

Surely the cost of unsecured borrowing needs to rise? It was, after all, the cheapness of and ease of access to debt that fuelled the crash in the first place.

New figures have underlined the subdued state of the UK property market.

Total mortgage lending fell again in August, for the second month in a row, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.

The number of homes sold in the UK also fell last month, by 5,000 to 85,000, HM Revenue & Customs reported.

And the property website Rightmove said estate agents' asking prices in England and Wales dropped for the third month in a row in September.

"We face the prospect of a difficult second half of the year," said the CML's chief economist Bob Pannell.

"However, the Bank of England is likely to keep interest rates at record lows for longer to support the economy. This will continue to alleviate payment pressures for many borrowers," he added.

Last week, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said the market continued to be affected by a combination of more sellers returning to the market but fewer would-be buyers, suggesting that prices were likely to fall in the coming months.

Banks have been urged to provide online access inside branches to help avoid "digitally excluded" customers missing out on the best deals.

A report from Which? magazine said online savers on average earned 37% more interest than those who only had branch-based accounts.

And it said travel insurance was up to 355% more expensive to buy in person.

The British Bankers' Association said banks reserved the right to offer the best deals where they could.

Which? said branch-based instant access accounts paid 0.65% a year on average compared to 1.14% for web savers.