UK house prices fall at sharpest in four rears - Halifax

British house prices fell at their sharpest rate in four years in October, the Halifax bank said yesterday, in another sign that the property boom is over.

The country's largest mortgage lender said that house prices fell 1.1 per cent on the month in October, the steepest rate of decline since October 2000, but after a revised 1.3 per cent gain in the month before.

Prices in the three months to October fell 0.4 per cent, the first quarterly decline since the last quarter of 2000, but were still up 18.5 per cent on a year earlier. Still, it was the first time the annual rate had dipped below 20 per cent in six months.

Interest rate futures rose after the figures as they reinforced expectations that the Bank of England would hold interest rates steady at 4.75 per cent later in the day amid ample evidence that five hikes since November are taking effect.

"The housing market seems to be moving into a slowdown following the period of strong growth in early 2003 and early 2004," said Martin Ellis, chief economist at the Halifax.

"Recent price movements confirm that the Bank of England's rate hikes have taken impetus away from housing demand while first-time buyers continue to be held back by affordability constraints."