People looking into purchasing a home have been informed house prices fell during August.

According to the latest figures from Nationwide, the cost of a typical home dropped by 0.6 per cent in the four-week period.

This means that in the last 12 months, there has been a decline of 0.4 per cent in the average cost of a house.

Chief economist at Nationwide Robert Gardner stated that the figures add up with the relative stability of the market in the UK over the course of the last year.

"Sluggish demand for homes, combined with only a gradual rise in the supply of available properties, has helped to keep property prices stable since last summer," he said.

Mr Gardner added that he expects this to be the case for the rest of the year.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, recently claimed that the state of the global economy is resulting in house prices in the UK being stuck in "limbo-land" at the moment.