UK property prices to fall 9%, bank warns

Halifax Bank of Scotland today warned that property prices are likely to fall by 9% this year – a near doubling of previous expectations as the bank predicts deepening gloom for the housing market.

The UK’s biggest mortgage lender said in an update on trading ahead of its £4bn (€5bn) cash call to investors that the forecast for the property sector will lead to higher bad debt charges, with mortgage arrears levels already rising.