The average cost of a home dropped 1.4% during the month to stand at £160,395, the lowest level since July 2009, according to the latest Halifax house price index.

The latest slide led to property values being 3.7% lower during the three months to the end of April than during the same three months of the previous year - the biggest annual decline since October 2009.

Halifax blamed the slide on weak consumer confidence in the face of economic uncertainty, which it said was constraining demand, putting downward pressure on prices.

Property values are now just 4% above the low they hit April 2009, while they are 20% below the peak they reached in August 2007, before the credit crunch struck.

House prices have been highly volatile during the past year, dropping in seven months, rising in four and remaining unchanged in one month, as the market continues to be unsettled.

The quarter-on-quarter change, often seen as a smoother indicator of market trends, also pointed to an acceleration in the rate at which prices were falling.

Homes lost 1.2% of their value during the three months to the end of April, double the 0.6% drop recorded during the three months to the end of March, and the biggest quarterly fall since October last year.

Despite the gloomy figures, Halifax said it expected the rate at which house prices are falling to ease.

Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis said: "Signs of a modest tightening in housing market conditions, a relatively low burden of servicing mortgage debt and an increase in the number of people in employment are all likely to be providing support for house prices, curbing the pace of decline.

"There are signs that house sales are stabilising, albeit at a level lower than the historical average."