Can You Guess Which Housing Market the Writer is Writing About?

I read the following article this morning and thought I would try something a little different.  I've replaced all the references to the particular housing market and any other key words that might give away the answer with blank  spaces.  Can you guess which market the writer is writing about?  I'll give you the answer at the end of the article.

 Chuck

_______________ House Prices Decline the Most in Three Years

April 28 (Bloomberg) -- ____ house prices fell the most in more than three years in April as a dearth of credit and concern that the property slump is deepening deterred prospective homebuyers, Hometrack said.

The average cost of a home in __________________ dropped 0.6 percent, the most since December 2004, to $344,000, the ______-based research company said today in a statement. Prices declined 0.9 percent from a year earlier.

A surge in borrowing costs has prompted banks to withdraw their best mortgage offers, worsening the housing decline. Falling home prices are sapping consumer confidence and held economic growth to the slowest pace since 2005 in the first quarter.

``Weak confidence is effectively resulting in a `buyers strike,''' Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said in the statement. ``The current downward pressure on prices will only start to be reversed once there is a turnaround in buyer confidence'' that will ``revolve around greater stability in the financial markets and an improved economic outlook.''

The report is based on a survey of 3,500 real estate agents and ___________________ calculating average values using judgments of achievable prices rather than sale prices alone.

Prices fell in all 10 of the regions Hometrack follows. ___________ and ___ _____________ led declines, with a 0.8 percent drop. Prices in _________________, home to one in eight of the ___________ population, fell 0.7 percent. The average time to sell a property was nine weeks, compared with six weeks a year earlier.

Deepening Slump

The findings add to evidence the housing slump is deepening. House prices declined 2.5 percent last month, the most since 1992, according to ___________, the largest ____ mortgage lender. The _______________________________________s' measure of sentiment in the housing market fell to the lowest since records began in 1978.

Prices in _________________ fell 0.4 percent in March, declining for a second month, the _____________ said today in a separate report. On the year, home values increased 3.6 percent, the least since February 2006.

Mortgages approved by banks fell 46 percent in March from a year earlier to the lowest level since 1997, the ____________________ Bankers' Association said April 23. Falling property prices make ___________ feel less wealthy and reduce the amount of equity owners can tap for spending. A threefold increase in home values over the past decade has helped the ______ economy expand for 63 quarters.

Economic Growth

The slump has put the economy on course for its worst performance in 16 years, with the ___________________ predicting growth of 1.6 percent this year. Growth was 0.4 percent in the first three months of the year, the Office of ____________________ said April 25. The _______________, backed by the Treasury, on April 21 offered to swap around $99 billion in government bonds for mortgage-backed securities in an effort kick- start lending.

Higher money-market funding costs are making lenders reluctant to pass on ______________________ interest-rate cuts since December to homeowners. __________________________ and _________________ have led write-downs among banks on securities tied to U.S. subprime mortgages. Losses worldwide total almost $309 billion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Ryan at Jryan13@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 28, 2008 06:57 EDT

The article was about the housing market in the United Kingdom.  Did you guess correctly?  Click here to read the original article.