John Lewis added to the doom and gloom circling the high street yesterday by reporting its fourth consecutive drop in weekly sales.

The department store group, a barometer of the health of the retail sector, said that customers were becoming increasingly nervous about making big purchases amid signs of growing weakness in the housing market. The biggest sales falls have been on big-ticket items in homewares, such as beds and furniture.

Patrick Lewis, the director of retail operations, said: “There's no doubt we are having to work harder. Consumer confidence in making big purchases has been slowing each month and it is still going down.”

The figures showed that sales across John Lewis's department stores in the last week of May were 4.7 per cent below the same seven days a year ago, with a 10.4 per cent decline in homewares.

Over the 18 weeks to the end of May, sales in homewares were down 4.5 per cent on last year, the weakest rate for John Lewis since before the retail downturn of 2005.

The weekly figures indicated that only three of the group's 24 department stores were up on last year, excluding the two recent openings in Cambridge and Liverpool.

Anne Critchlow, a Société Générale retail analyst, said that the news was likely to send a shudder through the retail sector, given that John Lewis had been outperforming most of its high street rivals. Land of Leather and ScS Upholstery, the furniture chains, have issued a string of profit warnings since Christmas, and Next and Marks & Spencer have experienced falling sales.

Ms Critchlow said: “It does feel as if things are suddenly deteriorating. The whole idea your house may be worth less than last year is a growing realisation and definitely impacting big-ticket sales.”

Howard Archer, the chief economist for Global Insight, said: “The recent underlying trend in sales is undeniably weaker and it adds to the mounting evidence that the consumer is now increasingly reining in spending in the face of serious pressures.”

Halifax, the biggest British mortgage lender, said on Thursday that house prices were falling at the fastest pace for 15 years. Many mortgage lenders have increased interest rates, adding to the growing pressure on consumers, who are faced with higher food and fuel bills.

John Lewis said that customers were still spending in certain areas, notably in beauty and clothing. However, sales of electricals and home technology in the last week of May were down 10.8 per cent on a year ago.

The group is starting an advertising campaign next week that will centre on why John Lewis is a “unique” place to shop. Mr Lewis said: “We have a home-biased business. A lot of our trade is linked to people moving home and refurbishing their homes, and, as activity in the housing market falls, that will have an affect on our sales.

“But I still think there is enormous opportunity out there and there are still lots of areas where people are spending good amounts. We feel very confident that we are holding our own. If we look at our competitors, I think the market is a bit worse than us on the heavy stuff.”

Sales at Waitrose, the upmarket supermarket chain owned by John Lewis, were up by 4.1 per cent in the final week of May and by 6.2 per cent over the 18-week period.

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