Average house prices fell by 2.3% in November, according to Halifax.

This takes the average price of a typical UK property to £285,579.

The annual rate of price growth also dropped, to 4.7% in November from 8.2% in October.

The lender added that the rate of annual growth slowed in all but one region of England (the North East) during November, and a similar slowing trend was noted in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, said: “The monthly drop of 2.3% is the largest seen since October 2008 and the third consecutive fall.

“Some potential home moves have been paused as homebuyers feel increased pressure on affordability and industry data continues to suggest that many buyers and sellers are taking stock while the market continues to stabilise.

“When thinking about the future for house prices, it is important to remember the context of the last few years, when we witnessed some of the biggest house price increases the market has ever seen. Property prices are up more than £12,000 compared to this time last year, and well above pre-pandemic levels ( up £46,403 compared to March 2020).”

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, added: “Things have officially gone from bad to worse in the property market, with the biggest monthly price drop since the financial crisis of 2008. We’re not yet in the realms of annual price falls, but if this pace continues, it won’t be long until we are.

“What’s even more worrying is that it takes around three months for a sale to move from being agreed to being completed, so these figures reflect sellers’ decisions in August – before the disastrous mini-budget. It means that buyers were already getting cold feet before Kwasi Kwarteng’s announcement forced mortgage rates through the roof.

“Since then, the fallout from the mini-budget mayhem has been a catastrophic loss in confidence. So as bad as these figures are, things could get even worse as we go into 2023.”