The housing market slump could be over as soon as next year if the cost of home loans falls by a further half-point, a leading housing market expert told MPs yesterday.

David Miles, chief UK economist at Morgan Stanley, said that if mortgage rates stayed at present levels, an educated guess from sophisticated economic estimates was that house prices would fall by another 5 to 10 per cent and wipe a further £17,000 off the value of an average home before the market bottomed out next year.

However, Professor Miles, who previously has advised Gordon Brown, added that if a recent decline in the cost of mortgage funding continued, price falls could soon end.

The Times

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