HOUSE PRICES in Britain fell for the sixth month running in April to stand 1 per cent lower than a year ago - the first annual fall in more than 12 years, the Nationwide building society said yesterday.
That came a day after a Bank of England policy-maker warned there was a danger of home prices crashing by more than 30 per cent and as another survey showed the British consumer mood at its bleakest since the economic slump of 1992.
Nationwide said house prices fell 1.1 per cent this month to £178,555, after a downwardly revised 0.7 per cent fall in March - more than twice the rate of decline forecast by analysts.
"Rapidly-deteriorating sentiment over the housing market also heightens the risk that house prices could fall more sharply over the next couple of years," said Howard Archer, economist at Global Insight.
Britons, about two-thirds of whom are home-owners, are particularly sensitive to house-price moves.
The GfK/NOP consumer confidence index fell to minus 24 from minus 19 in March as people turned gloomier on the state of the economy and their own personal finances.
That was the lowest reading since November 1992. - (Reuters)
