Despite all expectations, house prices rose by 1.1 per cent last month, according to figures from Nationwide. That will bring relief to homeowners everywhere.

But, as readers of TimesOnline frequently point out when commenting on our coverage, a rise in the price of homes only adds to the unaffordability of property for a substantial, mainly young, minority. From their perspective, today's figures are bad news.

Who is right here? Is this bad or good news? The answer is probably a bit of both.

In their more sanguine moments, homeowners would probably admit that the extraordinary inflation they have enjoyed in the past decade has had a seriously distorting impact on society.

Since property inflation doesn't add to the general stock of wealth in the country, it has the effect simply of shifting it from one group - the young and asset-free - to another.

But on the other hand, even the most frustrated would-be first-time buyer should be wary of calling for a house price crash.

If prices really do tumble (and, notwithstanding Nationwide, this is far from impossible), consumers could well pull in their horns, deserting the high street and causing a sharp slowdown in the wider economy.

The consequences are hard to predict but they could be messy. One area of concern is the buy-to-let sector, as highlighted by the MPC's Kate Barker in an important speech last week.

Buy-to-let has the potential to come off the rails in a big way even if prices only drop modestly.

Thousands of ordinary people have given up on pensions and hitched a ride to the buy-to-let sector as the basis of their retirement plans. When you factor out their property gains, many are not rich.

It's not hard to imagine that a lot of vulnerable people could get their fingers burnt if, or when, Nationwide starts to publish "gloomier" numbers.

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