The average cost of a home in Oxfordshire has fallen to its lowest level for almost two years.

Government Land Registry figures show the average property in Oxfordshire is valued at £218,947.

The figure is down two per cent, or £4,478, on the average cost of a property in the county in January.

It is also the lowest average property price for Oxfordshire since March 2006.

But last night estate agents insisted the picture was not all doom and gloom for homeowners.

They stressed the market was beginning to stabilise and insisted a 13.4 per cent fall in Oxfordshire property values in the past 12 months — equating to roughly £34,000 per property — was below the national average of a 16.5 per cent fall.

Mark Charter, of Summertown-based Carter Jonas, said: “Many buyers will benefit and it isn’t entirely doom and gloom for house vendors, as some areas and types of properties are still holding up well.

“For example, a family house on our books in central North Oxford is on the market for nearly the same price as it would have been a year ago.

“Properties for renovation remain popular, even in areas where prices are largely falling, as well as character homes in tip top condition, such as a Tudor house we have in Harwell.”

Damian Gray, head of office at Oxford agents Knight Frank, said he believed prices were already bouncing back to last year’s levels and that buyers were returning to the market quickly.

He added: “We are even starting to see a return to sealed bids and attempts at price gazumping.

“People can see houses starting to sell and mortgage rates have gone right down.

“They realise now is the time to move up as they may never be able to afford to do it again.

“We’ve sold 60 per cent of our stock in the last four weeks.”

Huw Warren, of Savills in North Oxford, said there had been an overall return to stability for the Oxfordshire housing market and prices could have bottomed out.

He added: “The final quarter of last year was a pretty terrifying time when we were not sure what was happening with prices.

“Now there a lot of people out there looking and our sales are 50 per cent higher than they were at this time last year.

“You are getting more property for your money than 12 months ago and for those looking to move up the ladder there is a great opportunity.”