House prices fall

House prices fell by 4.3 per cent in the last quarter of 1992 according to the Halifax Building Society. This was a much steeper decline than the fall in previous quarters and the Halifax blames the ending of the stamp duty holiday in the previous quarter, and the dent to confidence caused by Black Wednesday. The steepest falls during the quarter were in the Midlands and parts of the South. Over 1992 prices fell by 7.8 per cent, compared with a fall of 3.5 per cent the previous year.