House prices 'fall 1.6 per cent'
House prices fell by 1.6 per cent in February, new government figures reveal.The new report, from the Department of Communities and Local Government, also showed that the annual rate of property inflation was down to 6.7 per cent.This forms a 1.3 per cent drop from January's figure - and is indicative of the difficulties buyers are having with securing a mortgage in the credit crunch.Overall, the average cost of property in the UK for February was found to be £217,737.Analysts forecast an overall drop in house prices of up to ten per cent in 2008, the Times reports.Speaking to the newspaper, Global Insight economist Howard Archer said: "The likelihood of a sharp house price correction will also rise if both sellers and buyers start expecting it to happen, which is becoming a very real threat given all the current high profile bad news about mortgages and the housing market."
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