Halifax figures confirm housing market woes

Earlier this week, Nationwide figures showed a 1% annual fall after prices fell 1.1% during April. The Halifax figures show a 1.3% fall in prices in April, with the average UK home costing £189,027, which the lender says is largely due to pressure on consumer spending and huge price rises in recent years. Halifax expects Wales and the West Midlands to be the worst affected areas, while Scotland is expected to continue growing. Availability of finance is a major problem for the market, according to Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, with Bank of England figures showing mortgage app...