People need to put their fears of negative equity into the context of the wider market, according to a leading global lender.

GE Money has compiled a list of how much property prices would have to drop by before the owner would be in negative equity.

The lender said that the current value of the average property bought in 1995 would have to drop by more than 70 per cent before the property was worth less than the mortgage taken out on it.

Gerry Bell, head of mortgage marketing at GE Money Home Lending, said: "As house prices soften many commentators understandably warn of the potential of negative equity."

"We would need to see unprecedented falls in property prices for the average home owner to be severely impacted," he added.

According to Nationwide, house prices have fallen 6.3 per cent this month when compared with June 2007.

The price slump has slowed with properties losing on average just under one per cent of their value last month.