UK: Yet More Housing Gloom

Hopes that the UK property market may be stabilising have been dashed by data revealing house prices slumped 2.2% last month, the biggest drop since May.

Prices, which fell 1.3% in September, are now 15% lower than last year at a seasonally adjusted £168,176, the largest drop since the series began in 1983.

"Housing market conditions remain challenging in the face of the significant pressures on householders' incomes and the reduction in the availability of mortgage finance since last summer," said Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis.