The long boom is over as the long bust looms

UK growth has fallen to zero, and the housing picture remains awful. We should expect more house price falls as the recession deepens. And don't expect a fast recovery.

The housing picture remains "awful", as Nils Pratley put it in The Guardian. House prices are already 11% below last year's peak and falling faster than in the last housing bust, and this week the British Bankers' Association said the number of mortgages approved for new house purchase in July were 65% down on last year, albeit marginally up from June's all-time low. The mortgage credit squeeze has also taken its toll on the buy-to-let sector, with new loans sliding by a third year-on-year in the second quarter.

More house price falls ahead...

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