The monthly Halifax House Price Index has shown that house prices have only risen by 1.4% since July 2004, when the average price for a property was £163,748.
It has also revealed that house price inflation has fallen by 8.4 percentage points in the past 6 months.
According to the Halifax, housing market activity has fallen by a third since May 2004, but sales recorded by estate agents remained static in December, making that the first time in nine months when sales did not fall.
Our view
We are sure this news surprises very few.