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UK house prices falling fast

Catherine Deshayes

House prices are falling at their fastest rate for nearly 18 years, with the average cost of a home in the UK dropping by 10.5 per cent during the 12 months to the end of this month.  

The housing market has been looking gloomy for a while now, but this latest drop marks a new low, hitting the lowest point since the final quarter of 1990, according to Nationwide Building Society.

Not only were prices falling, but the rates at which they are sliding is also picking up speed, with prices falling by a further 1.9 per cent in August, following drops of 1.5 per cent and 0.9 per cent in July and June.

House prices have now fallen for 10 months in a row and lost 10.3 per cent of their value since the beginning of this year, to leave the average property costing £164,654.

Nationwide's Chief Economist, Fionnuala Earley, said, "While the pace of monthly falls picked up during the month, the less volatile three month on three month measure eased very slightly in August to 4.5 per cent from 4.6 per cent in July.

"Recent activity levels in the market had been very subdued, although data from estate agents suggested that some glimmers of interest were returning to the market, possibly as a result of price falls and the opportunity buyers had to negotiate big discounts.

"On a brighter note, while there was still a great deal of uncertainty, the Bank of England's forecasts for growth and inflation have been widely interpreted as opening the door to rate cuts.

Market rates had responded to this, and as a result mortgage rates, particularly fixed-rate deals, have come down," Ms Earley added.

There have been signs of competition returning to the mortgage market in recent weeks, with a flurry of lenders making repeated reductions to their mortgage rates, as they once again compete for business.

Alliance & Leicester are the latest lender to announce cuts to mortgage deals. They have pledged to trim between 0.1 per cent and 0.55 per cent off its tracker deals. It is also introducing a new two-year base rate tracker at 6.99 per cent.