House prices 'to fall another 15 per cent'

A REPORT today claimed Britain is "halfway through" the housing market correction, with prices likely to fall by a further 15 per cent.

Estate agent Knight Frank said the average property will lose 30 per cent of its value from the market's peak in late 2007, pushing prices back to their September 2003 level.

It came as figures revealed the gap between the cost of tracker mortgages and official interest rates has soared five-fold during the past year.

Arrangement fees on the mortgages, which move in line with the Bank of England base rate, have also trebled, say mortgage group mform.co.uk.

In October last year, lenders were charging an average of 0.3% more than the then base rate of 5.75%. But in October this year the average lifetime tracker rate was 0.95% above the base rate.