Record home prices fall
HOUSE prices fell by 15.9% during 2008, the biggest annual drop on record, figures showed today.
The average cost of a UK home dropped by a further 2.5% in December, dashing hopes that November’s slide of 0.4% marked a stabilisation in the rate at which prices were falling.
Nationwide warned that prices were likely to have further to fall before significant numbers of buyers returned to the market, as affordability measures still remained well above their long-run average.
However, the North-east fared better with the region recording an 11% slide.
The annual change, the biggest since the group began collecting data in this format in 1991, left the average house price at £153,048 - £20,000 less than in December last year.
