UK home sellers increased their asking prices at the slowest pace for any October since 2008, as economists trimmed their growth forecasts for the wider economy, reports published Monday show. The average price of a property put up for sale increased by just 0.5% from September to £368,231 ($449,190), according to property portal Rightmove. That’s well below the historic norm in October of 1.4%. The sign of continued pessimism in the housing market comes as forecaster EY Item Club downgrades its prediction for growth in the UK economy next year, from 0.8% to 0.7%. A rapid string of interest-rate hikes from the Bank ... (full story)