UK house prices slipped 1 per cent in February, putting an end to nine-month string of monthly rises, as higher taxes and winter weather discouraged buyers.
Data compiled by the Nationwide Building Society showed that house prices dropped to 161,320 pounds in February, representing a month-on-month decline of 1 per cent.
It should be noted here that the government’s partial holiday on stamp duty, which suspended the levy on house purchases of less than 175,000 pounds, expired this year. 
Still house prices are 9.2 per cent higher than as compared with the corresponding period of last year. 
Speaking on the topic, Nationwide's chief economist Martin Gahbauer said, "There is evidence from a range of indicators that the market may have lost momentum in early 2010 as the stamp duty holiday ended and house hunters were obstructed by the icy weather.”
However, Land Registry claimed that value of house prices jumped 2.1 per cent between December and January.
House prices dropped considerably from peak in October 2007 due to recession, but got a backing last year from shortage of property.