The real estate industry should brace itself for another year of turmoil as home prices are expected to continue to decline in 2009.  While major lenders have refused to give their views and predictions as to how low the house prices will fall this year, there are bits and pieces of information that have slipped in the process revealing a grim prospect for the industry.

Predictions of the housing gloom in Britain went from 10 to 20% with the highest reduction percentage predicted by chartered financial planner Armstrong Davis which predicted gloom in the UK real estate market up to 2010 and 2011.

Halifax said the 15% decrease in home prices last year was a clear sign of the turbulent real estate market. However, the recession has spread out and is wreaking havoc even in Britain and has threatened unemployment rate for up to 600,000 people in 2009. Despite the grim outlook, there is a silver lining in the horizon considering the reduction of interest rates to 1% or even lower and the additional capitalization of banks.