OBR: UK house prices could fall by 12% next year

The Office for Budget Responsibility says UK house prices could fall by as much as 12% next year. John Stepek looks at how likely that is.

Estate agents' for sale signs
Are UK house prices heading for a fall?
(Image credit: © Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

This morning, I wrote about the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) annual report on the state of the UK’s balance sheet. The report is a surprisingly interesting read, as these things go (have a look here yourself if you’re tempted).

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John Stepek

John Stepek is a senior reporter at Bloomberg News and a former editor of MoneyWeek magazine. He graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in psychology in 1996 and has always been fascinated by the gap between the way the market works in theory and the way it works in practice, and by how our deep-rooted instincts work against our best interests as investors.

He started out in journalism by writing articles about the specific business challenges facing family firms. In 2003, he took a job on the finance desk of Teletext, where he spent two years covering the markets and breaking financial news.

His work has been published in Families in Business, Shares magazine, Spear's Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Spectator among others. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, BBC Radio Scotland, Newsnight, Daily Politics and Bloomberg. His first book, on contrarian investing, The Sceptical Investor, was released in March 2019. You can follow John on Twitter at @john_stepek.