Please tell me where these cheap houses are I have searched everywhere prices seem solid. -30% down predicted
its like the energy prices maybe 25% or 35% or even 40%.
Good Property is still top money. Highstreet sales up in May.
Doom & Gloom by the media, I am buying I need a house........

Phill Dougan, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear

'No more Boom & Bust' was the hubris uttered by our esteemed leader 'Crash Gordon' Brown, on numerous occasions. After hubris comes Nemesis.....

Simon, London, UK

Don't worry Paul from Huddersfield, people defaulting on their loans does not lead to a housing crisis. The houses are still there! They just get priced more realistically and the banks get punished for their recklessness.

Simon, London, UK

This is not quite like any previous house price fall/recession, it is twinned with massive inflationary forces in commodities and robust consumer spending??? Only one obscure dead economist can explain this - google - Ludwig Von Mises - Crack Up Boom.

Mark, Epping, Essex

Sanity! May the Good Lord deliver a 90% fall in real estate values. Destitution? Surely people have saved?

Eric Skelton, Cardiff, Wales

No one knows how much house prices will fall. The whizz kids are never right. If climate change continues and the sea level continues to rise, London property will be under water. How much will it be worth then?

Jim Wills, Brisbane, Australia

When will this newspaper(and all others) put their hands up to having 'talked up' the market when any journalist with half a brain must have known what the eventual but not too distant outcome would be. Does The Times owe many of its readers an apology?

katenicholson, oxford,

to the best of my knowledge Newton's law of gravity has not been repealed. This is the normal ebb and flow. Stocks, oil what have you.

People get carried away prices bubble and then it corrects. This cycle has a centuries long history. Why does everyone seem so shocked.

History always repeats

Jason Pearson, Toronto, Canada

if house prices were to fall by 50% as danny from leeds said, then there would be alot of families on the street. This would then lead to people defaulting on loans and evenutally the economy would collapse, leaving with it a massive housing crisis. it cannot happen, its gone too far now to go back

paul, huddersfield, uk

Who cares about negative equity? You can't have less than nothing in our society. Just give the keys back to the bank, declare yourself bankrupt and let the bank take the hit. No need to saddle yourself with 20 years of misery. The banks should never have lent so irresponsibly.

Simon, London, UK

Read a worrying report today in Canada. It says that US based banks think that the worst is still yet to come with possible full scale bank failures that will lead to horrible long term fallouts.

We have liars/middle to thank for much of this who sought easy bonuses offered by main lenders!

Paul, London, Canada

If house prices fall by such a large amount this quickly, then there is one guaranteed outcome.

Gordon Brown will slash the price level tiers at which stamp duty is paid.

Martin, York,

There is no solution for hardworking people who were unlucky enough to get a house around 2000. Its simple really. No-one on an average wage can afford these massively inflated prices. So they will come back down to an affordable level. 30% drop is very optimistic. More like 40-50% drop.

Danny, Leeds,

Lets not forget that house prices have risen by 180-200% over the boom period. So a 40%-50% drop will be more likely than 20%-30%. The Bust will reflect the Boom. Anyone who denies this is either an estate agent, politicians with agenda's, or someone who bought recently without doing their homework.

Daniel, Leeds,

Roger in London why feel sorry for gamblers? The information that UK house prices were up to 40% over valued has been around for over 2 years. It doesn't take much thinking to realise there was a bubble, risky mortgage deals etc. You makes your choice my friend, nobody forced them to sign up to buy.

Eric, Cambridge,

It is very difficult for most sellers to face a price reduction. There is no sign of it in Manchester. But once the first cracks appear, it may well be that those who have to move will face reality. Then all those BTL investors will also hit the market when they see it's really going down !!!

David Nammory, Liverpool,

bad news sells !

'we are talking ourselves into this', I wonder if this statement can actually be true ? I imagine there are fundamental reasons why there is a drop happening, but doubt it will be as far as some are suggesting.

john, stevenage, herts

Will someone ban the word affordable housing, it means nothing since affordabililty depends on how much money you have. Instead use the word 'less expensive' or its second cousins 'poor quality' and 'small'. When politics mixes with housing those 2 adjectives are the consequence.

Jason White, Paris,

At the back of many people's minds is the belief that the Easy Credit of the last few years is the norm and will return once the current crisis is over. It won't. Given what is happening now, once stability is restored, governments, banks and the financial sector will play it safe for a generation.

Dean Hallett, Basingstoke, Hants

I don't think any of the financial experts really know what they are talking about.

I do feel sorry that some people made very bad gambles on buying over priced houses and will be paying an expensive debt off for decades to come, reducing their options in life. Thanks Prudent Mr Brown

roger, london,

A 50% fall means that there will then have to be a 100% rise to recover the loss; simple mathematics I'm afraid.
The second fact that is often missed is that a £100K mortgage will cost you £300K in repayments over a 25 year term and the outstanding debt only reduces significantly after 20 years.

john, milton keynes,

Why don’t I read the experts mention that the pound has fallen significantly against the Euro? In effect UK housing has fallen even more than people realize.

jason, wakefield,

Another misleading headline - the majority say a 20% fall, not 30%. Only the pseudo economists who rant on these comments pages think prices are going to fall 50%.

phil, london,

Well Clive, if you have been predicting it for years you must have missed out on a lot of the growth as well.
Far too many private wilson types on here !!

David Barlow, newcastle,

I agree that what these 'economists' are doing is regurgetating the fashionable opinions of the moment that they still don't really understand and then trying to sugar coat it a little.
fundementals do agree that a fall of between 30-40 % over a faily sharp period no recoever for at least 10 yrs

duncan, milton keynes, bucks

Richi

".. a sortage of affordable houses..."

The pertinent word in your observation is "affordable". Once prices have dropped then , and only then, people will buy again. It has always been a myth that there is an actual, physical, shortage of housing. I'm afraid your bubble is bursting.

Alex, Salisbury, UK

People will not pay what it takes - they never did. It is the Banks/lenders who govern what IS AFFORDABLE!. And over the past decade they deemed 125% + was offordable. Now they are hurting they will hurt their customers. Simple economics.

You cannot spend what someone will not give you!

Paul, London, Canada

If the 'average' price drop is 30% that means those who saw their home go from £250,000 to £500,000 over the last 6-7 years will see in 2 years a value of £250,000. The BIG trouble this time is that even though values will drop there is still a life long debt on the property. Banks win. Buyers lose.

Paul, London, Canada

I doubt that ever again will lenders put so much effort into getting the average person into a state where they are saddled with an un average debt. Few who bought property and took out loans of £300,000 realised just what this meant. The average person simply cannot comprehend the implications.

Paul, London, Canada

This drop was predicted and was inevitable. In 2004 the BoE sold out its independance and dropped rates - all because the housing market was cooling. You may recall talk at the time of Brown looking to become the next heir and an election issue!

You can thank New Labour self interest for the rest!

Paul, London, Canada

there was a shortage of affordable houses b4 this all emerged ..... thats what kept prices high. if you think that most builders are not building. this will only make the shortage worse .... guaranteed you will pay inflated prices again

Richi , heathrow , middx

David:

I believe what this article says because I don't rely on one source and can see the reasoning behind such an argument.

It's very ironic for you to shout "vested Interest" when the market was talked up by lenders and estate agents.

If you just 'bought in' I'd suggest Bicycle clips.

Paul Sullivan, Chester,

Who believes a word these economists say. They were telling us we had entered a new paradigm that house prices will rise forever. Now they are telling us they will fall and then bounce back. Of course there is never any vested interest in the predictions!

david barker, eastborne,

House prices are driven by demand. Demand is regulated by disposable incomes and interest rates. I see no end to the great British boom bust cycle. When the market is at bottom the vultures will sweep in.. just like last time. Then the prices rise as people will pay what it takes.

dave henry, camberley,

It is different this time. The bubble has been inflated further not only in nominal terms but relative to rents and relative to incomes too. An unprecedented level of mortgage lending funded by international investment undermines recovery this time to a far greater extent than in previous crashes.

Steve, Bath, UK

Great Crash 2 is on it's way and the poisons in the mud are bubbling out

I have been predicting this crash for years now and it seems that the majority of economists are now realist bears with regards to the UK property market now too.

Clive Hickman, Salford Prios,

A 50% fall by 2012 is more likely with no recovery for another four or five years. History repeating itself, only falling from a larger peak. Those who say 'it's different this time' or delude themselves that where they live will not be affected will be in for a cold, hard lesson in reality.

Paul, Coventry,

Well spotted Edward of London. It will take 10 years for house prices to get to 2007 levels again. A lot of people still seem to be in denial about what we facing here.

Chris, Oxford,

Negative equity, just how many people are going to be caught in the trap this time? What are Labour going to do about it, as it their interference in the housing market and punative tax policy have put the ordinary people at risk.

steve tea, manchester, cheshire

Why would anyone in their right mind want to see house prices "bounce back"? Bounce back to what level may I ask?
I really dislike the implication by writers that going back to rising house prices is desirable. It's not!!!

nic, paphos, cyprus

Silly stats. A 30 percent fall and then recovery by 2012 would require house price inflation in excess of 15 percent a year in 2010, 11 and 12. Even if they recover by 2015 that is still over 8 per cent a year. This is never going to happen. Are these the same economists who never saw the downturn?

Edward, London,

People were predicting a 30% slide in prices late last year.
Economists are so desperate to be accurate they no longer predict, they just articulate existing trends. What value an economist these days. Everyone could see the bubble was due to burst, except it seems the economists.

Joe, Geelong, VIC Australia