UK house prices fall at record annual rate in Oct

British house prices fell in October at their sharpest annual rate since records began in 1991, the Nationwide building society said on Thursday, as the housing market slump gains momentum. The mortgage lender said house prices fell 1.4 percent on the month. That was the 12th consecutive monthly fall, albeit smaller than the declines registered in each of the previous three months. The annual drop of 14.6 percent, after a 12.4 percent annual fall in September, was the biggest since the last housing market crash and took the average property price to 158,872 pounds ($254,600), almost 30,000 pounds below their peak a year ago. The precipitous drop in house prices both in Britain and overseas has been a key driver of the crisis that has rocked the banking sector, prompting unprecedented government intervention. And analysts reckon house prices will continue to fall for some time, impacting further on depressed consumer spending and the weakening economy.