Halifax tracks 15% house price decline

07/11/2008

House prices have dropped by 15 per cent in a year, new figures from Halifax show.

According to the lender's latest house price index, the value of the average home also fell by 2.2 per cent in October.

This closely matches a similar survey released by Nationwide recently, which showed that prices had dropped by 14.6 per cent.

The decline in the property market is putting millions of homeowners at risk of negative equity - where their mortgage is worth more than their home.

Repossessions are also forecast to be on the increase - with the Council of Mortgage Lenders saying recently that it expects over 15,000 more people to lose their homes in 2008 than did so in 2007.

Speaking to the BBC, Simon Rubinsohn at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors commented: "Prices are now falling at a faster pace than in the recession of the early 90s and, with mortgage finance still in short supply, the likelihood is that the picture will continue to deteriorate in the near term."

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Young Family Finances,

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