The number of homes changing hands has dived by 53% over the past year, figures showed today. Just 59,000 residential properties worth more than £40,000 were sold during September, the lowest level since HM Revenue & Customs began issuing figures in this format in 2005.

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The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose again in November. The number of people out of work in the UK rose by another 164,000 between June and August, to 1.79 million, according to government figures.

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The story of the UK housing market – the real story, the bit with the heroes.If we are to blame the market then "Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, must be the main villain for allowing cheap credit for so long and creating a climate where people imagined debt was risk-free.

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Council of Mortgage Lenders has admitted short term property price forecasts are wide of the mark. The Bank of England reports that the number of mortgages approved by lenders fell from 33,000 in July to 32,000 in August - 75% below their peak.

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UK house prices have fallen for an 11th consecutive month, dropping by 1.7% in September, according to the Nationwide. The lender recorded a 12.4% annual drop in prices, pushing the cost of the average UK home down to £161,797, more than £20,000 less than a year ago.

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House prices are falling at their fastest rate since records began 30 years ago as the mortgage lending freeze continues to undermine the housing market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says today. Its latest report shows that prices fell by 1.9% in August, taking the annual rate of price deflation to 4.6%.

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Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last two independent investment banks on Wall Street, will transform themselves into bank holding companies subject to far greater regulation. The Federal Reserve said Sunday night, a move that fundamentally reshapes an era of high finance that defined the modern Gilded Age.

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Lloyds TSB on Wednesday night agreed a £12bn rescue takeover of HBOS after the government brokered a deal to save the country’s largest mortgage lender from a crisis of confidence. This is a deal it described as a "unique opportunity".

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More evidence that the house market in London is in terible state due to further annual fall of 10.9% in August reported by Halifax. Early in the year 32% had gone unsold for more than 3 months. This has increased to last month that figure was 51.2%.

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Property values have dropped by 10.5 per cent in the last year, the first time they have dropped by double figures since 1990, according to Nationwide Building Society. The average home now costs £164,654, which is more than £19,000 cheaper than the average price one year ago.

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