Every home in UK has lost over £20,000 in value

Residential property in the UK has lost over £591 billion in value during 2008 ­the equivalent of every single British home losing £22,083 since January, according to research.

Property values have decreased by nearly 10% (9.72%) leaving 2.1 million owners owing more on their mortgage than what the property is worth, according to the 2008 Property Review from Zoopla.co.uk, the property valuation website.

Its analysis shows that the average property owner has spent 85% of their annual salary in 2008 simply offsetting the loss of their property's value.

'This year will be remembered as the year that marked the acceleration of the housing market correction. Values have been declining every month for the past 18 months and with further job losses predicted, increased repossessions and the continued decline in the number of people buying and selling properties, the bottom is not yet in sight,' said Alex Chesterman, CEO of Zoopla.co.uk.

'The reality is that some homeowners will face a very tough decision next year ­whether to try and ride out further value declines and risk falling into further negative equity or cut their losses and sell before the price drops too far,' he added.

Hertfordshire was identified as the hardest hit county in 2008 with the average house price dropping by £31,280 since January, followed by Essex (£29,377) and Middlesex (£28,978), according to data analysed in the report.

The worst performing areas were Birkenhead in Cheshire experiencing a 14.87% decline on the average house value and Crowborough in Sussex with a 14.35% decline.