House prices fall 1.4 per cent in October

UK property prices fell 1.4 per cent in October with figures from Nationwide revealing that house prices have fallen at their sharpest annual rate since records began 17 years ago.

Property prices have now decreased 14.6 per cent over the course of 2008 - the 12.4 per cent drop in September being the largest since the housing market crash of the early 1990s.

The building society said that the average house price now stood at £158,872, down from £186,044 in October last year.

Commenting on the findings, Fionnula Earley, chief economist at Nationwide, told the Times: "Consumers still expect house prices to continue to fall into 2009 and will, therefore, be reluctant to trade without some discount on the asking price."

Nationwide's figures reveal that house prices have fallen consecutively over the last 12 months, although October's figure represents a significantly smaller fall than the preceding month.

With the number of first-time buyers falling by 55 per cent over the course of the year, finance website Moneyfacts.co.uk said that people looking to buy their first property will benefit from the fall in prices.

House Prices News posted on 31/10/2008 15:55:33