House prices slip to 2009 levels and may fall further
Business digest: Nationwide says outlook is gloomy after worst year on record for mortgage lending
A survey from building society Nationwide shows that house prices are at their lowest since the summer of 2009, after a 0.1 per cent drop in January. And Bank of England figures reveal that mortgage lending is at its lowest level since records began in the 1980s.
The average price of a home in the UK is now £161,602 - that is £1,161 lower than the December figure.
The building society painted a gloomy outlook for the year ahead. Chief economist Robert Gardner warned: "The pattern of low transaction levels and prices moving sideways or modestly lower will continue through 2011."
According to the BoE, net mortgage lending totalled just £8.2bn in 2010 and in December the number of approved mortgages for house purchase was at its lowest level since March 2009.
Read a full report at the Guardian. ·
