Presumably a proportion of those people not able to move this year due to the withdrawal of high LTV mortgages will want to move next year and next year will also see a new cohort of potential buyers, e.g. university leavers, young professionals, couples wanting to live together etc.

Because sellers will be reluctant to sell for a large discount on their asking price this year, they may decide (where appropriate for them) to rent their houses out.

The media has reported that some large new build housebuilders are ceasing building work for the moment.

Potential buyers will be using this year to save larger deposits, and next years cohort of buyers will be forward looking and perhaps saving more in anticipation of buying next year.

Consequently next year could see more demand for and less supply of housing stock.

The BOE base rate is expected to fall further this year.

Once the gap between LIBOR and the BOE base rate narrows then supply of mortgage funds could rise.

Gordon Brown and the Labour party have a maximum of 2 years to prepare for a general election and headline figures of house price falls will be very damaging to his cause.

As a result of all these factors I think house prices may rise again next year.

What do others think?

The BOE base rate is expected to fall further this year.

not according to the IMF. Prices of everything (except houses) are going through the roof (pardon the pun). This is going to push inflation ever higher. The BoE cannot reduce interest rates without further fueling inflation.

Anyway, the last 3 cuts in interest rates haven't pushed mortgage rates down at all, in fact they have risen.

Some on this forum were encouraging people to buy at the end of last year - prices in Yorkshire have fallen by 8+% since then. Now they are saying it is a good time to buy because you can drive a hard bargain.

But..ask yourself WHY no-one is buying and lenders are unwilling to lend. Is it because they see it all turning rosy next year? I don't think so. The banks know what is on their REAL balance sheets (not the fiddled ones they publish) and that is why they have scaled back lending.

Lending practices will never return to the incredibly loose lending that has sustained prices over the last decade (unless Banks all want to go the way of Northern Rock).

Prices will only start to rise again after they have fallen to a level that allows first time buyers to buy within the new lending criteria. Without FTB's the market is dead.

So...they will fall 10% this year and the same or more the year after.

And don't be surprised if, once Labour realise they can't win the next election, they make sure its in a fine old mess for when the Tories take over. Besides, the public finances are so shot, there is no room for manouevre any way.

This housing market will fall then go side ways for 7 to 8 years! weve seen it all before over the last 50 years! only this time it's worse because of this amateur government and their "10 year plans",they need to be got rid of pronto,before there's blood on the streets! but as to who can extricate the country from this almighty mess about to face us I have not a clue! Cameron would be mad to try to sort this one out