UK housing market not in same position as U.S.-Cooper

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's housing market is feeling the impact of the global credit squeeze but circumstances are very different from the United States, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper said on Wednesday.

Cooper was speaking after figures from the Nationwide building society showed house prices fell for the sixth sucdessive month in April to record their first annual decline in more than 12 years.

"No matter how strong the long term fundamentals, the housing market will face pressures while the credit squeeze continues," Cooper said.

"The most important thing to help home owners and home buyers now is to get credit markets moving again."