The level of unsustainable , low interest, poor equity, ninja lending over the past few years has created a false housing "value".

I bought a house in Scotland in July 2007 for £175k (cash, for Mum aged 86), which 1.3 years earlier,as a new build ,had been £165k. It had been purchased on a 125% mortgage and had two 4 figure inhibitions on the title which the mortage company (Northern Rock) elected to clear rather than lose me
as a buyer.

On any view the NR lost 30k over that transaction ,and probably a lot more, plus allowing for inflation..

The true "value" was irrelevant to Mum who has no mortgage and wanted to live near her favourite Doctor. She can see the house value drop to 4p and not care. The same canot be said for any young family with a mortgage.

Sorry kids but the price crasheth cometh and combined with the credit crunch you have had it. And so has anybody over exposed today. Of course, I could be wrong...

Tina Douglass, Carmarthen, CArmarthenshire

The latest figures from the Halifax, though encouraging still show a 5.2% annual increase, still above the rate of inflation and that of the average wage rise.

With the average house price at just under £200k and the average salary at just above £22k, it still puts the price of the average house beyond the reach of most people. Though there is an increasing focus on affordable housing through shared ownership schemes, is it really enough?

www.co-buyers.net

Mark Waldron, London,

Has anyone else tried to work out how it's 5.2% or how it fell from 6.3% in December given that it went up 1.3% in the month. These statistics sound dodgy.

"However, over last year as a whole, Halifax’s data shows that British house prices climbed by 5.2 per cent, the slowest rate of growth for 12 months, with the average cost of a home rising by £11,759 to £197,039"

Not when I went to school

Bill , Gerrards Cross, UK

Why dont "NEWS" organisations get on with just reporting the news rather than self serving over zealous comment and opinion. Houses price drops reported as crashes and prices rises reported as "a fall in house price inflation". Stop the obsession with prices and let people make their own minds up if they want or need to move. We live on a tiny island with not enough homes to go around therefore prices will never fall by the much reported 40%. If they do the property investors will jump straight back in and buy up even more homes for their pension funds and push prices back up. Every year for the last 5 years we have been told we are in for a price crash that never comes. I would love to know how these "experts" can still call themselves that after so many years of be totally and utterly incorrect.

Chris O'Shea, Bristol,

I'd like to know if this is volume-weighted.

Sales are traditionally thin in December, so an unweighted 'month-month' comparison to the previous months is a poor indicator.

With petrol prices increasing, 15-20% increases in other energy costs just announced, mass redundancies in the Financial sector looming, a tightening economy, and already high income multiples being needed for purchase I fail to see where the cash is going to come from to prop up any kind of price growth in 2008.

Unless of course we are heading for the situation in Japan, with the invention of 100 year mortgages that can be 'inherited' by your children...

Rob, London, UK

Too Bob Pounder

I totally agree , ten years of good times , 3 months of correction and every " Body " is screaming cut rates to please shareholders .. I am 100% not in favour of dropping rates . It will give a wrong signal and it certainly looks like many readers are singing from the same song sheet ! The country is to soft ! Cruel to be kind ...

We need a 12 month period of tightening ... Cheap money and the expectance of rsing house prices every week gets on my nerves ...

Charles, Somerset,

Why do house prices always have to rise?
Why do people want something for nothing? Why cant for once people spend the money they actually have rather than borrowing what others have saved and expect an easy ride?
I dont think there is anything wrong with tightening the belts once in a while.
Why should borrowers be favoured over savers?

P Des, manchester,

Well, well, well, what a different view to that we have been reading about over the last couple of months. Average of 5.2% annual house price inflation, and a forecast of a healthy growing economy.

Looks like we have our Christmas cake and are eating the icing as well.

Does anybody really see the need to lower interest rates????

bob pounder, stevenage,

Why does every economist say teh economy is in good shape. We have a huge personal debt mountain, a widening government deficit, a credit crunch, signs of increasing unemployment, and increasing inflation (despite waht the CPI says).

Stop the spin on house prices and recognise what is happening. We have had 10 years of boom built on the back of consumer spending. Consumers are maxed out on debt and we are facing tougher times.

david barker, maidstone,