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| House prices still falling fast | House prices still falling fast |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| House prices fell another 2.6% in November, the Halifax says. | House prices fell another 2.6% in November, the Halifax says. |
| According to its latest survey, that increased the annual rate of house price falls to 14.9%, as against the 13.7% rate in the 12 months to October. | |
| The Halifax said the average property in the UK was now valued at £163,605, a level last seen in July 2005. | |
| Last week, the Nationwide building society said the pace of house price decline had eased off, with prices down 13.9% in the year to November. | |
| "The combination of high house prices in relation to earnings, constraints on householders' incomes and spending power, and the decline in the availability of mortgage finance since the summer of 2007 has curbed housing demand," said the Halifax's chief economist, Martin Ellis. | "The combination of high house prices in relation to earnings, constraints on householders' incomes and spending power, and the decline in the availability of mortgage finance since the summer of 2007 has curbed housing demand," said the Halifax's chief economist, Martin Ellis. |
| The lender's calculation suggests that the average house price has now dropped by £31,485 in the past 12 months. | The lender's calculation suggests that the average house price has now dropped by £31,485 in the past 12 months. |
| It calculates the annual rate of decline by comparing the average house price over the past three months with the average for the same three-month period the year before. | It calculates the annual rate of decline by comparing the average house price over the past three months with the average for the same three-month period the year before. |
| A straightforward monthly year-on-year comparison suggests that prices may have fallen even faster, by 16.1%, although the lender argues that this approach can be distorted by short-term price fluctuations. | A straightforward monthly year-on-year comparison suggests that prices may have fallen even faster, by 16.1%, although the lender argues that this approach can be distorted by short-term price fluctuations. |
| Stabilising? | |
| Mr Ellis said there were indications that sales, if not prices, had bottomed out. | |
| "The number of mortgages approved to finance house purchase was broadly unchanged for the fourth successive month in October at a seasonally adjusted 32,000," he said. | |
| "The recent flattening off in approvals suggests that housing market activity may be stabilising." | |
| However, there are widespread fears that the current mortgage drought will become even worse in the coming year, unless the government's efforts to overcome the crisis in the banking industry and to revive mortgage lending come to fruition. | |
| The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), among others, has warned that new lending may be negative in 2009, for the first time on record. | |
| That means that there will be so little new lending by banks and building societies that it will be outstripped by borrowers paying off their mortgages. |