House prices fell in February

This is according to the latest Halifax house price index which also showed that, despite this fall, the average price is 8.0% above the trough reached in April 2009.

Commenting, Martin Ellis, housing economist, said: "There has been a decline in the underlying rate of house price inflation - measured by a comparison of the latest three months with the previous quarter - over the last few months. An increase in the number of properties available for sale has helped to reduce slightly the imbalance between supply and demand. At the same time, the bad weather in the first two months of 2010, together with the return of the lowest stamp duty threshold to £125,000, are likely to have had an adverse impact on housing demand. The combination of these factors appears to have helped to curb the upward pressure on house prices."