Australia’s largest property players face an escalating risk of buyers failing to pay at settlement time because of falling apartment and land prices, analysts say.

In a gloomy outlook for the country’s largest real estate developers, UBS says Mirvac, Lendlease and Stockland face a higher risk of settlements falling over because of their exposure to projects sold to buyers at the 2017 peak of the property cycle.

“We see Mirvac as most at risk followed by Lendlease and Stockland,” analysts Grant McCasker and James Druce said.

Australia is in the midst of a property slump with apartment prices falling 7 per cent in Sydney and 2 per cent in Melbourne.