Related News
Home » Business » Real Estate
UK house prices fall 2.5% in December
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2009, Tuesday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
BRITISH house prices fell another 2.5 percent in December to make 2008 their worst performing year on record, the Nationwide Building Society said today.
Nearly 30,000 pounds (US$43,630) came off the price of the average home last year to leave it 15.9 percent lower than a year ago -- a record annual decline.
December's 2.5 percent drop was the sharpest in seven months and more than five times the rate of the month before, in a sign market conditions are worsening rapidly despite the Bank of England slashing official interest rates to just 2 percent.
The central bank is expected to chop borrowing costs again later this week, but analysts predict only more pain for homeowners in the months ahead as new mortgage lending has all but dried up because of a global credit crunch.
"The short-term outlook for the housing market is fairly weak. This should not be surprising given the economic and labour market conditions we face," said Fionnuala Earley, chief economist at Nationwide.
Another survey published by Nationwide earlier today showed consumer confidence took another sharp hit in December as people worried the economy was heading into its first recession since the early 1990s.
After a decade in which they trebled, house prices fell every month last year, according to the Nationwide, taking the average level back to what it was in spring 2005.
"Conditions remain highly volatile going into 2009, making it more difficult than usual to arrive at a specific forecast for house prices," Earley said.
Nearly 30,000 pounds (US$43,630) came off the price of the average home last year to leave it 15.9 percent lower than a year ago -- a record annual decline.
December's 2.5 percent drop was the sharpest in seven months and more than five times the rate of the month before, in a sign market conditions are worsening rapidly despite the Bank of England slashing official interest rates to just 2 percent.
The central bank is expected to chop borrowing costs again later this week, but analysts predict only more pain for homeowners in the months ahead as new mortgage lending has all but dried up because of a global credit crunch.
"The short-term outlook for the housing market is fairly weak. This should not be surprising given the economic and labour market conditions we face," said Fionnuala Earley, chief economist at Nationwide.
Another survey published by Nationwide earlier today showed consumer confidence took another sharp hit in December as people worried the economy was heading into its first recession since the early 1990s.
After a decade in which they trebled, house prices fell every month last year, according to the Nationwide, taking the average level back to what it was in spring 2005.
"Conditions remain highly volatile going into 2009, making it more difficult than usual to arrive at a specific forecast for house prices," Earley said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
