House prices plunged at a new record rate during the year to the end of September - losing 13.2 per cent of their value, Britain's biggest mortgage lender said today. The fall was the biggest ever recorded by the Halifax house price index, which posted a year-on-year decline of 12.7 per cent in August. Annual house price inflation, which measures prices during the previous three months compared with the same period a year ago, also dropped to a new record low, with falls of 12.4 per cent, pushing the average cost of a UK home down to £172,108. But on a brighter note, September saw the smallest monthly fall for seven months- with properties losing 1.3 per cent of their value. At the same time, the fall of 5.2 per cent during the third quarter was in line with one of 5.1 per cent during the second quarter, suggesting the rate at which prices are falling could be stabilising.
House prices plunged at a new record rate during the year to the end of September - losing 13.2 per cent of their value, Britain's biggest mortgage lender said today.
The fall was the biggest ever recorded by the Halifax house price index, which posted a year-on-year decline of 12.7 per cent in August.
Annual house price inflation, which measures prices during the previous three months compared with the same period a year ago, also dropped to a new record low, with falls of 12.4 per cent, pushing the average cost of a UK home down to £172,108.
But on a brighter note, September saw the smallest monthly fall for seven months- with properties losing 1.3 per cent of their value.
At the same time, the fall of 5.2 per cent during the third quarter was in line with one of 5.1 per cent during the second quarter, suggesting the rate at which prices are falling could be stabilising.
</not snark> In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
