Credit Crisis Could Torpedo UK Housing Market, Too

Britain risks its own housing price crash, according to an International Monetary Fund report. The UK is in a credit crunch similar to the ongoing US version, and its housing is more overpriced than the US market before the crisis. In fact, "a number of advanced economies' housing markets … could be vulnerable to a correction," the group worries.

The IMF says there's still hope Europe could avoid America's fate, the Guardian reports. "First, housing markets in western Europe have generally avoided sub-prime mortgage origination and the deterioration of lending standards observed in the US," the report says. The risk is that the credit situation in Europe could worsen, triggered by US conditions. (More International Monetary Fund stories.)