British house prices fall 0.4% in October

The latest Halifax house price index released on Thursday showed that British house prices fell 0.4 percent between September and October, the fifth monthly decline in the past year.
Prices in the quarter to October were 8.8 percent higher compared to those of a year ago. On this measure, annual house price growth has been slowing since the middle of summer after reaching a peak of 10.2 percent in July.
"The latest Halifax house price index brought further evidence that the sharp drop in active housing demand since the turn of the year has taken much of the steam out of house prices," said Ed Stansfield, chief property economist of Capital Economics.
"That seems consistent with the sharp drop in buyer enquires and mortgage approvals that we have seen since the turn of the year. The latest figures show that both enquiries and approvals are still softening," Stansfield added.
Martin Ellis, housing economist of Halifax said that weakening demand has brought supply and demand into better balance.
"However, while the chances of an imminent interest rate hike may have receded, a recent Halifax survey found that many borrowers are concerned about the impact a rise could have on their monthly mortgage repayments over the next 12 months. This concern is likely to curb buying intentions," Ellis added.