Property bubble: the hissing sound begins

The latest data on the property market makes grim reading for overstretched homeowners. And with the two key drivers of the market in recent years now disappearing, further falls are on the cards.

"The housing market has turned," said Sophie Brodie in The Daily Telegraph. Nationwide has now reported the first slide over two consecutive months for seven years, while the Halifax index, down 2.4% since August, has fallen for three months in a row for the first time since the end of the last slump.

Leading indicators, such as buyer enquiries, are signalling a larger fall in demand than that seen in 2004-2005, when house-price growth slowed sharply, while mortgage approvals are 40% down on this time last year, according to the British Bankers' Association.

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