Halifax said its latest survey showed that house prices had fallen by 0.5% in October, after a 0.6% drop in September. The Times, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian
This was the first time for nearly two and a half years that Halifax has reported back-to-back monthly falls.
The Halifax report showed the annual rate of house price inflation dropping back into single figures, to 8.9% from 10.7% the previous month. Halifax said that headline annual figure was set to decline further as the strength of the market last year drops out of the equation.
If recent trends continue, prices would fall in real terms over the coming year, the data suggested. The quarter-on-quarter rate of growth was just 0.3%, or 1.2% in annualised terms, well below inflation.