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Halifax say house prices have returned to 2004 levels

According to reports from the Halifax, homeowners have had an average of £3,000 disappear off the value of their homes every month during 2008, resulting in house prices being reduced to the level they were at in 2004. Figures show that prices have fallen on average by 18.9%, where the average home value now stands at just £159,896.

This means that a total of £37,000 has been wiped off the value of the average home, as prices fell for eleven months consecutively during 2008. House prices are predicted to fall further in 2008, with experts from the Halifax, the biggest mortgage lender in the UK, forecasting bad news. The chief economist at the Halifax, Martin Ellis, commented:

Continuing pressures on incomes and the negative impact of the dislocation of the financial markets on the availability of mortgage finance are expected to exert further downward pressure on the market over the coming months.

The data from the Halifax comes at the same time is figures from the Inland Revenue showing that flats have been hardest by the housing market collapse. During the first six months of the year, flats fell in value much faster than houses. While house prices were falling in Leicester by an average of 4%, flats fell by a much more drastic 16%.

The same story was found in other parts of the UK, with Conservative MP Eric Pickles placing the blame firmly at the door of the government, who changed the law in 2000 allowing developers to build flats in gardens. This, he believes, has led to an oversupply of flats.

Labour’s constant interference has resulted in the perverse outcomes of a glut of flats and a shortage of family homes with gardens.

Halifax also stated that the lower house prices have made properties more accessible for first time buyers, even though currently first time buyers can only get mortgages for 4.56 times their earnings, compared with 5.84 times their salaries last July.

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