Property price fall 'stabilising' Published: 10/10/2008

Property prices went down by 1.3 per cent in September, but the rate of decrease is slowing, according to new figures.

The Halifax house price index revealed this was the smallest monthly fall for seven months.

The national property price fall stood at 5.2 per cent in the three months to September – a slight increase on the 5.1 per cent rate of decline in the second quarter of 2008 and showing that the situation may be stabilising.

Annual property price inflation stood at 12.4 per cent with the average property price now close to the level it was in January 2006.

People buying property will pay an average of £170,866 thanks to the house price fall in recent months.

Commenting, Martin Ellise, chief economist at Halifax, said: "The overall price decrease in the three months to September was very similar to that in the previous quarter, indicating that the trend rate of decline may be beginning to stabilise.

"The ongoing pressures on householders' income, combined with the reduction in the availability of mortgage finance, however, mean that market conditions will remain challenging."

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