House prices fall again

LONDON (Reuters) - Asking prices for homes in England and Wales fell 1 percent on the month in September, leaving them 3.3 percent lower than a year ago, a survey showed on Monday.

The Rightmove monthly survey, which does not take seasonal factors into account, showed the average asking price for a property dipped to 227,438 pounds this month, down from 229,816 pounds in August -- the fourth successive fall.

The annual rate of decline actually eased this month following a 4.8 percent drop in August, but Rightmove said the market remained very subdued despite a government move to raise the level at which taxes are paid on home transactions.

"The housing market is on its knees and will remain so until financial institutions address the disastrous state of the mortgage funding markets," said Miles Shipside, commercial director at Rightmove.

"We are now seeing the lowest level of new sellers for years."

The survey was conducted between August 10 and September 13, using 115,657 asking prices.