Franky on Finance

House prices are falling as quickly today as they did in the crash of the early nineties and only further cuts in interest rates will avoid a property meltdown, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).  Its statistics show that nearly two-thirds of surveyors saw prices falling in December and virtually none say they are rising.  The crunch has hit almost every part of England and Wales, while the West Midlands is suffering its fastest fall in history.  However, the RICS says market conditions are better than before the 1990s crash.  The coming months will be of great importance and many would-be-buyers (as well as homeowners on tracker rates) will be watching the Bank of England’s interest rate decisions while lenders remain reluctant to part with finance.