UK house prices have fallen 15% in the last 12 months
News that the price of the average UK home has fallen by 15% in the 12 months to October has brought further doom and gloom to the mortgage and property markets. The monthly fall of 2.2% between September and October, as reported by Halifax, brings about the 15% fall mentioned above which equates to approximately £30,000 per home in the UK.
This news was announced prior to the 1.5% base rate reduction which was even larger than many mortgage and property companies had hoped for. It is debatable as to how long it will take for the 1.5% base rate reduction to kick in to both the property and mortgage markets but the move has been well received.
One of the major reasons for the substantial fall in UK house prices has been a lack of finance afforded to first-time buyers who are in many ways the life blood of the property market. If mortgage rates are reduced in line with the interest-rate fall last week this will have a positive fact on the market in due course.
Martin Ellis, the chief economist at Halifax, suggested that "prices are still falling and they are falling at a faster pace than we have seen before".
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