by Calculated Risk on 6/22/2008 01:13:00 AM

From The Guardian: Number of new houses being built plummets nearly 60%

The National House Building Council, which has 20,000 registered house builders on its books, said there were 6,890 new starts in the private sector in May, compared with 15,713 this time last year. This represents a drop of 56%.
..
This news came on the same day as Halifax, the UK's biggest mortgage lender, announced that it would be raising its fixed rates on loans by half a percentage-point from today ... Homeowners who have more than 25% equity in their houses now face an increase on a two-year fixed-rate mortgage from 6.49 to 6.99%.

And on house prices in the UK: HBOS predicts 9% fall in house prices and sales to halve

House prices will fall 9% this year, HBOS warned yesterday in its gloomiest prediction for the housing market since 1989.

Just a reminder that the housing bust is global not just in the U.S.