Articles | Repossessions up 71%

Repossessions up 71%

Published: Tuesday, 28 October 2008, 11:50AM

The number of homes that were repossessed are up 71 per cent on the same period last year.

The Financial Services Authority said 11,054 homes were repossessed in the three months to the end of June, compared with just 6,476 during the same three months of 2007.

The regulator said the number of repossessions had been growing "significantly" since the third quarter of last year.

Meanwhile, for those who can afford their mortgage, fresh figures show the risk of negative equity has risen.

The Land Registry says the average value of a home in England and Wales dropped by a further 2.2 per cent during September to £168,814.

This nearly doubles the annual rate at which house prices are falling to a record of 8 per cent.

All regions recorded price falls on both a monthly and an annual basis, with Wales seeing the biggest slide. It is down 5.5 per cent on the month and 10.7 per cent down on the year.

The South West, South East, North East and East Midlands all recorded house price drops of more than 2 per cent in September.

Yorkshire and the Humber saw the smallest reduction, but even here properties still lost 1.2 per cent of their value during the month.

London has seen the smallest year-on-year decline at 6.1 per cent, followed by the North West at 6.3 per cent.