House prices could fall another 20% but stabilisation is possible, says Fitch

Property prices could fall another 20% but may yet stabilise, ratings agency Fitch said in its outlook for 2013.

House prices have, to date, fallen 50% from the peak of the boom.

Fitch predicts falls in house prices in all the troubled peripheral eurozone countries. It also anticipates depressed mortgage lending and pressure on incomes and consumer confidence — but in a glimmer of hope for homeowners it said it was conceivable that Irish prices could stabilise.