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House price slump is easing, says the Halifax
Jonathan Prynn03.04.09
THE fall in house prices is slowing, Britain's biggest mortgage lender the Halifax said today.
The bank, which is now part of Lloyds, said prices fell 1.9 per cent last month.
Halifax's rival Nationwide yesterday reported that prices rose 0.9 per cent last month, the first increase since October 2007.
Philip Shaw, an economist at Investec, said: “The
Halifax numbers really confirm that the underlying trend for house prices is still down and will remain the case until the end of the year.”
The Halifax said that year-on-year prices had fallen 17.5 per cent, a modest improvement on the 17.7 per cent fall seen in February.
Yesterday's news from the Nationwide was described by experts as a “narrow shaft of sunlight” for homeowners after 18 months of almost unremitting gloom.
Reader views (6)
I agree with Kate, house prices must and should fall between 40 and 55%. That would bring back the "actual" value of homes. At the moment they are over valued and over priced. I dont understand how on earth banks could even think to lend consumers 6 x their wage mortgages!!
Rising unemployment in the UK and in the US inevitably means prices will plunge further. This recession is worldwide and is different and worser than any other recession.
Nationwide may have reported a 0.9% increase in prices in march 2009 but im sure they will see bigger decreases for at least another 12 months if not longer!!!!
- Shak, Birmingham, UK
Well done Keith Price, keep up the reality comments. They are always good for a laugh.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants
Yeah right. I remember all these self interested groups telling us that the housing market had turned the corner in 1990 and 1991. They were wrong then, and they are wrong now.
Keep away for another 3 to 4 years or you will get burnt.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants
Kate of Southampton you are spot on. The last thing that we need is the resumption of a housing bubble, prices must be allowed to fall to their proper level. I just wish that EA's and GB would take this on board, judging by their actions they are trying to talk up another boom - disastarous.
- Mark Burton, St Ives. Cambs
How can house prices going UP be a sign of hope and good news? The UK went broke trying to sustain a hugely inflated property market that tax payers will be paying for for the next 30 years, including those tax payers who could not even consider buying a property at peak when the Council of Mortgage Lenders had an average wage at just under £60000! How did we EVER think this would be sustainable? It clearly wasn't and people had to borrow more and more multiples of income to just get on the bottom of the ladder. At the weekend Margaret Beckett was quoted as saying, "any politician that says the market has bottomed is insane. We all know it is very difficult out there." DIFFICULT being trying to get prices down now in line with incomes, either prices HAVE to come down 40 -50% or wages have to go up, which would you put your money on. Of course this is not GOOD news for all those that recklessly overlent and over borrowed the past few years, but a 50% drop only bring prices back down to 2002 levels, and this HAS to be good news for most people living in the UK today. The FSA have said they will cap lending at 3x's loan to income or less to stop prices inflating again if lenders start to lend irresponsibly again. The sooner the government / EA's / investors etc stop TALKING UP THE MARKET the better. Having dropped 50% property prices will then only rise in line with incomes as they have always done historically taking about 20 years to rise 50%.
- Kate, Southampton
Well done Gordon Brown. Your ingenious economic plans have not just inspired other world leaders but the effects are already being seen in the rising housing market
- Keith Price, Luton, England
