The Halifax has issued a stern caution to the national press to hold off the sensationalist reports regarding house prices, as reported in the national press last week.

Many publications - including The Sun, The Telegraph and The Times - have quoted single monthly figures to demonstrate the drop in property prices. However, Halifax insist that a three month average should be taken, to avoid “falsely amplifying” the figures.

A spokesperson for the Halifax said: “Some of the media has used the single figures to create the 12.7 per cent as they are trying to falsely amplify the numbers. They did the same a few years ago when we showed an upward trend also.”

Many seeking remortgages will have been scared by the allegedly massive drop in house prices, but the warning from Halifax suggests that there is less need to be anxious than the media may have portrayed.

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