As homeowners reflect that the value of the average home fell by £2,000 last month, the fact that this is a more modest fall than the declines in each of the six previous months is likely to provide small comfort.

However, September's moderation in the pace of depreciation, coupled with the fact that house prices fell by 5.2 per cent on a the three month view, compared to a near identical 5.1 per cent fall in the second quarter, has bolstered Halifax's view that the rate of decline in house prices has eased.

In the statement accompanying its new house price figures, Halifax says: "the trend rate of decline may be beginning to stabilise". The rate of decline may have slowed slightly, but economists are united in the view that there are more house price falls to come.

A slower rate of erosion of the value of most people's principal asset is only good news if it means that house prices fall by less in total. If it simply takes the housing market longer to bottom out, it is to no one's advantage.

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