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House prices 'drop' further in the UK

House prices 'drop' further in the UK
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UK house prices dropped by 2.3 per cent last month, new figures have shown.

According to HBOS, the country's biggest mortgage lender and now part of the Lloyds Banking Group, the average price of a house in the UK stood at £160,327.

Martin Ellis, the group's housing economist, said that while activity in the market is very slow, there could be some signs of stabilisation.

"The house price to earnings ratio - a key measure of housing affordability - has fallen to its lowest level for six years," he commented.

Recent figures from Nationwide showed that house prices fell by 1.8 per cent in February and 17.6 per cent over the year.

It has also been reported that German banks have emerged as almost the only lenders prepared to spend large amounts of money on new deals in the UK's commercial property sector.ADNFCR-1681-ID-19065518-ADNFCR