UK house prices fall in September: Halifax

[LONDON] British house prices fell by 0.9 per cent in September from August when prices showed a surprisingly strong leap, mortgage lender Halifax said on Tuesday.

In year-on-year terms, price growth slowed to 8.6 per cent in the three months to September, down from 9.0 per cent.

Economists taking part in a Reuters poll had expected prices to rise by a monthly 0.1 per cent in September to take the annual increase to 9.0 per cent.

The Halifax survey contrasted with another measure of British house prices, compiled by rival mortgage lender Nationwide, which found prices rose more quickly in September than in August.

REUTERS