House prices fall again in November - Nationwide

Published 01st Dec 2010

House prices fell for the fourth month in five in November, a survey showed on Wednesday, in a sign the downturn in the country's property market is becoming more entrenched.

Mortgage lender Nationwide said the average price of a property fell 0.3 percent in November, a slightly bigger drop than the 0.2 percent fall forecast by analysts. The annual rate of growth fell to 0.4 percent, its weakest since September 2009.

However, Nationwide chief economist Martin Gahbauer said supply pressures were starting to ease and there was little to suggest house price declines would accelerate in the months ahead.

"There are early signs that the flow of new property onto the market may be slowing down again as potential sellers observe the recent weakness in prices and decide against marketing their properties at the current juncture," he said.

Nationwide's figures tally with a raft of data showing last year's property market rebound has gone into reverse as Britons prepare for the toughest government spending squeeze in generations.

Banks, wary of an escalation in the euro zone's debt crisis, have also reined in lending to all but the safest of borrowers.

Still, there was little evidence that price falls were gathering momentum in the way they did during the downturn of 2008. The three-month on three-month rate of decline actually moderated to -1.3 percent from -1.5 percent in October, the first improvement in this measure since June.

Source: ' Reuters '

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