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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| House prices 'see sharp decline' | House prices 'see sharp decline' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| House prices fell by 2.5% in March, the biggest monthly decline since September 1992, said the Halifax. | House prices fell by 2.5% in March, the biggest monthly decline since September 1992, said the Halifax. |
| The latest monthly figure from the UK's largest mortgage lender was significantly worse than the average analyst prediction of a 0.4% fall. | |
| For the first three months of the year, the Halifax said prices fell by 1.1% to a UK-wide average of £191,556. | |
| The newest data from the Halifax is just the latest sign that the UK housing market is under pressure. | The newest data from the Halifax is just the latest sign that the UK housing market is under pressure. |
| And analysts said that the weaker-than-expected data would raise expectations that the Bank of England would cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points to 5% on Thursday. | |
| 'Adjustment' | |
| The Halifax's chief economist, Martin Ellis, said that declines in price "should be viewed in the context of the significant price rises over recent years". | |
| "I am surprised that we have seen a fall of quite this extent but of course we have been seeing some falls in previous months so it's not surprising that there's actually been a decline during the month," he said | |
| "We are definitely seeing an adjustment in the housing market. | |
| "We have seen a decline in housing demand and as a result of that we have seen a pattern of monthly falls that has appeared over the last six or seven months." |