Many homeowners are finding their properties are declining in value, the latest figures from Hometrack suggest.

The real estate consultancy firm reveals the cost of the average house fell 0.8 per cent to £157,000 last month, marking a ten per cent decrease on the same period of last year.

Richard Donnell, Hometrack’s director of research, comments: "This increase in market activity is off a very low base and falls well short of what could be classified as ‘green shoots’ of recovery."

The decline has occurred for a 17th consecutive month, although a slight increase has been seen in the number of new buyers registering with estate agents.

Mr Donnell claims the housing market is currently "at the mercy of the economy", with rising unemployment also failing to ease the situation.

Those with property on the market are also finding they are getting less than the asking price and they are taking longer to sell, Hometrack reveals.

According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors UK housing market survey for January 2009, the average number of transactions per surveyor showed little fluctuation over the last three months despite buyer interest rising for the third consecutive month.