LONDON (Reuters) – House prices fell a record 2.5 percent in May, the Nationwide Building Society says, raising fears the property market downturn could soon turn into a crash that hits the whole economy.
The monthly decline, the largest since the lender started compiling records in 1991, wiped 5,000 pounds off the value of the average home and took prices 4.4 percent lower than a year ago — the sharpest rate since the 1992 economic slump.
“The sheer size of the drop in house prices, without the economy having yet slowed significantly, suggests that this housing market correction will be deep and prolonged,” said Seema Shah of Capital Economics.
» House prices post record fall – Reuters, 29th May 2008.