Tweet
What a year it has been. This time last year few people would have predicted the demise of Icesave and Bradford & Bingley, the near collapse of Halifax and November's 1.5% cut in the Bank of England base rate. True, the term credit crunch was already common currency, and the property market was on the skids, but few were bold enough to predict the kind of double-digit fall in house prices reported by lenders this year.
Looking back at the most-read stories across the year it is clear the ongoing fall-out from America's sub-prime mortgage market has continued to affect consumers. With the odd, notable exception (see Jeremy Clarkson, Anna Tims and porn bills), this year's most popular tales concerned house prices and the banking crisis:
January: Clarkson stung by fraud stunt
The tale of one Top Gear presenter's ill-advised decision to publish his bank details in a national paper grabbed the attention of readers at home and abroad. Including many from Belgium lads' mag Zv-magazine.be.
February: Anger at Egg ban on prudent customers
Egg's decision to axe 160,000 customers, on the pretext they were a bad credit risk, was an early indicator of how the credit crunch would eventually hit even the middle classes.
March: How boom quickly converted to bust
We marvelled when flats in converted factories started attracting price tags upwards of £200,000, and there was a certain amount of Schadenfreude when prices started to plummet. This story of a block of flats in Manchester caught the attention of bloggers on housepricecrash.co.uk among others.
April: House prices fall at fastest rate since 1978
There was more gloom from the housing market in April when surveyors claimed prices were falling at their fastest rate since the 70s. (We are getting used to such things now.)
May: The big giveaway
We all love a bargain at the best of times, but by May many of us were starting to feel the pinch so it is little wonder that a vision of a society where everything is free captured people's imaginations. US writer Chris Anderson told Stuart Jefferies about his notion of freeconomics.
June: Negative equity hits 250,000 - and there is worse to come
After several months of falling house prices it was only a matter of time before someone used the n-word. Website Rense.com drove many of the readers to this warning to homeowners.
July: Complaints - I've had a few
What happens when a consumer agony aunt looks back over a decade of helping readers? She finds a litany of weird and wacky excuses from companies. Anna Tims picks her favourite explanations from across the years, including the tombstone maker who didn't like to talk about death.
August: Meet the rich
Polly Toynbee and David Walker's exposé of how fat cats live would have been interesting at any time, but never more so than when the rest of us are feeling the pinch. Their story attracted attention from around the world, and the Daily Mail.
September: Q&A: What the Lehman collapse means to you
When an American bank collapsed one Sunday afternoon it sent shock waves around the globe. With panic sweeping the financial markets it is little wonder consumers were anxious to find out what impact it would have on them.
October: Icesave freezes deposits and withdrawals
The credit crunch continued to get personal, and the failure of Icesave was one of the biggest headlines of the month. As it put up the closed signs on its website, savers clamoured to find out what was going on with their money.
November: Porn bill for couple who can't download
What is worse than getting a bill? Getting one for something you didn't buy is bad enough, but this story showed that insult could be heaped upon injury. The outrageousness of the situation, plus the mention of porn, were a heady mix that made this the most read story on the site this year.
December: Cancer victim left 'dehumanised' by Halifax debt chase
Another tale of terrible customer service, this time dished out by Halifax. This one led to a court case and the bank paying costs after it made more than 760 calls to a terminally ill customer.
Most read stories across the whole year:
Porn bill for couple who can't download - 140,702 views
Meet the rich - 88,699
Clarkson stung by fraud stunt - 72,750
Panic selling shuts £2bn fund - 63,946
How to beat the budget car tax increase - 57,991
Other favourites:
Sunnyside House - home of Phil Neville - 595,997 views
The cost of living - 145,822
Interactive: UK house prices - 91,870
Snooping around: Homes reduced in price - 78,093
Snooping around: Homes under £150,000 - 58,103
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
More...
