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U.K. Pound Declines as Survey Shows Worsening Housing Slowdown Gavin Finch and Justin Carrigan The pound fell against the dollar after an industry survey showed the housing-market slowdown in Europe's second-biggest economy is worsening. The pound dropped against all 16 most-active currencies tracked by Bloomberg today as data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors indicated price declines spreading across all of England and Wales. The U.K. currency slid to $2.0410 by 8:48 a.m. in London, from $2.0469 yesterday. It was also at 72.04 pence per euro, from 71.85. Against the yen, it weakened 0.9 percent to 227.96, paring yesterday's 2 percent gain. A net balance of 40.6 percent of British property surveyors reported a decline in house prices in November, the highest since May 2005, according to RICS. They were also at their most pessimistic about the outlook for prices since at least 1998.
``Sterling is weaker following the release of the RICS house price survey,'' a Societe Generale team led by London-based Vincent Chaigneau, head of foreign-exchange and interest-rate strategy, wrote in a note today. Britain's housing boom is grinding to a halt after a surge in credit costs, sparked by the collapse the U.S. subprime- mortgage market, made Britons more reluctant to buy homes. The Bank of England cut its benchmark rate for the first time in two years on Dec. 6, citing ``downside risks'' to the economy. U.K. government bonds advanced after the RICS report and the FTSE 100 stock index opened lower.
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