It’s been a bad month for anyone with shares in the big four banks.

Commonwealth, NAB, ANZ and Westpac are all down close to 10 per cent from their highs for 2014.

September marked a big turnaround for the banks, which have been among the star performers since the global financial crisis – especially Commonwealth, which has more than tripled in price since its 2009 lows.

The banks have also been paying out healthy dividends.

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Their slide is not great news for local investors (except those looking to buy).

The big four make up around a quarter of the Australian market, and feature heavily in most superannuation portfolios.

In fact, the slide in the big four was a major contributor to a six per cent slide in the S&P/ASX 200 index in September.

But the banks’ share prices have stabilised in the past week, so is the worst over and is now the time for buyers to return?

It depends who you ask.

IG market strategist Evan Lucas said the banks were now trading at more attractive valuations compared to earlier in the year, but there could be further slides to come.

The key concern is that market sentiment is generally negative at the moment, he says.

Given their size and the run up in their prices in recent years, the banks’ share prices remain vulnerable.

“I’m still very nervous about what’s going on in the market,” Mr Lucas said.

“You will probably see a few buyers trying to actually support them, however I’m still not convinced that you are at a bottom and you should never try to catch a falling knife.”

Lonsec senior client advisor Michael Heffernan also said the banks may slide further, but he maintains they remain an attractive proposition for investors looking for healthy dividends.

That is especially true at the moment, with ANZ, Westpac and NAB due to release their annual results in a few weeks time.

“They are coming up to their dividend in six weeks time, you hold that until Christmas next year you get three dividends,” he said.

“When you throw in franking that’s a 12 or 13 per cent income return in 15 months.”

“That’s great, it doesn’t matter if the share price bobs up and down a little over the next few months.”