I think that the London & Goyton Building Society is correct when it says that house prices are going to continue to fall for the next 3 years or so and that they cannot see any signs of any relief.

Lewis Gorton, Staines, Middlesex

phil, london. Why would PC World sell laptop computers for about a third of the price people would pay about 5 years ago? It's called the market. With property, once forced sales, repossessions etc take hold these will set the market price. You're right though, about people obsessing about property.

Clint, Brighton, UK

James, London - bet you're gutted!

As for those who say that prices will fall 50% just because "they say so" - get real you bitter lot. Why would people sell at 50% less than they were worth last year when they're only 10% down? Get on with your lives and stop obsessing about property prices!

phil, london,

i sold my flat in london in 2004 as the prices were stupidly high on any historical measure.

since then they have increased by 50%.

i believe we still have a long way to go and the economy hitting the buffers and unemployment will only accelerate the process.

james, london,

Total piffle from the RICS. New rental volumes are way down. Rents have weakened. Remortgage rates are higher. Vacant rental property is at an all time high. Are these not the people who were valuing property at record levels for mortgages interests?? Vested interests make people blind!

Michael, London,

If families are renting their own homes out and renting someone elses themselves how are they better off unless they own a castle and rent a caravan! It's the BTL who are trying to rent their houses at overinflated prices which people cannot afford!

sophie smith, london, uk

cant sell? you are greedy, deluded or both. Get this- reduce the price of your house 50% or more(given that houses have trebled in the last 10 years) it will sell.it is simple, just requires intelligence which sellers lack.

paul, scotland,

Can't sell? = Denial over the true value of housing.
With further house prices predicted, denial is getting more expensive by the day. By the time reality sinks in, todays insult offer will be a dream.
The market is now returning to normal = average house price 3.5 x Av income.

Pat, Coramandel, New Zealand

The mortgage backed bond business has been severely damaged and will remain so for several years. The US will bail out Fannie and Freddie as this business has always been semi govt run. In UK this was always a private scheme so its restart will be even more difficult, prices will drag for years.

Mark, San Jose, USA (ex UK)

Many can't sell because they don't have the additional funds they need to bring to closing. If they owe more than they can get by selling they have to make up the difference at closing. They can't lower the price when they don't have the extra cash.

richard, brookville, usa

Chris B, if you drop the price, you may be in negative equity (I think I probably am at the moment). I borrowed at 3.7x income, not stretching myself at all, but with a low deposit. Lots of people are in my situation; I couldn't sell even if I wanted to.

Robin Laundon, Cambridge, UK

Private rents are rediculously high. People will default on the rent just like they will default on the mortgage. How about rent capping private landlords like they do for Registered Social Landlords...!

Chris, Chipping Norton,

Why don't they just drop the price. You can sell houses just not at the price that the estate agent tells you when he's touting for your business.

Now development land, that's a different matter. You would probably best off trying to rent that out coz it wont sell.

Good luck speculators.

Chris B, Manchester, England

Have all these properties that are up to be let, transfered their mortgages to BTL, if not then there is no insurance on the properties as the insurance only covers the householder, ie the mortgagee.

paul lewis hammond, frome, uk

ashley, colchester - only those who bought in the last year or two cannot afford to sell, if they are in negative equity, but most are still convinced by the mantra of house prices only ever go up , supply/ demand , divorce, immigration etc. etc. Reality is that prices are too high and unrealistic.

Yorkie, London,

Just what is bad about falling house and rental prices? Time to stop talking to people with a vested interest in the property pyramid scheme, and painting a gloomy picture. News stories like this are the first ray of light a younger, poorer generation have seen in years! Fantastic news.

Phil, Welwyn, UK

CP drop the price to where? Less than they paid? Of course they will rent rather than take a hit caused by a refusal to lend. Like it or not the current market is a false one created by a lack of finance. Do you think the car market would be any different if we cancelled car loans?

mark, Surbiton, England

Well, falling house prices and flat rents would at least demonstrate that there is not a housing shortage. I wonder how long it will take the government to realise it doesn't have to accede to the demands of all those developer-people to bury the countryside under tarmac?

David Scott, Loughborough,

Jack Tar, London

Why is falling property prices a good thing for you?

David, Norwich,

Stupid people have forced the bubble to ridiculous levels and now think they can avoid the crash by renting temporarily. By flooding the rental market this will force even more BTL investors to bail out, which will force prices down even more quickly. Prices WILL fall by 50% - get over it!

Clint, Brighton, UK

The housing market has to obey the law of economics - supply and demand. With a glut of large size properties, rents will drop, may be insufficient to replay mortgage. Likely repo will go up.

Jimmy Yang, Cardiff, UK

Where are people living these days anyway? All back with mum & dad / on the streets by the sounds of things if both house prices and rents are declining. Not true. Although the UK house price avereage continues to fall, pockets of london are still holding. What goes down must go up :-)

Ann, London,

A "recovery" in the housing market will be a bad thing if that means going back to the price/borrowing/earnings ratios we had in recent years. The market is only long term sustainable if the price of houses, the amount that can be borrowed against it and incomes themselves stay at manageable ratios.

Richard Jefferies, Castaño del Robledo, Spain

Falling Prices, are not helping first time buyers as there are no mortgage products available unless you have 25 % deposit.

House prices will always go up, not sure why people panic at the odd blip.

james, manchester,

Lending will not return on the terms it was because mortgage syndication is dead having caused the housing bubble and then the crunch. More rental property coming to market than tenants so falling rents and proof that the lack of supply argument was nonsense. The only cure is a fall in prices.

TC, london, UK

More demand than supply does not mean unrealistic prices will be paid. Mortgages lending used to come from savings but as they are now so low it came from the market for the last few years, now that has siezed. Do not expect a return to the same funding levels or interest rates of previous years.

Stephen, London, England

The reason people cannot afford to drop their prices is because they have overstretched themselves in the first place. I cannot comfortably afford a mortgage, nor could I when they were being handed out by the irresponsible banks. Hopefully now, due to this behaviour, I will be able to afford one!

phil jones, Daventry, England

Tenants, beware! People who are letting because they can't sell are not entitled to let out their property unless they have permission from their lender and/or a BTL mortgage. If they don't and repossession starts, you have no rights as a tenant and the AST is invalid, leading to instant eviction.

MB, Edinburgh,

It's a very expensive way to go. You have to pay tax on your rental income from your old home, and you get no tax relief for rent paid on the new one. A higher-rate taxpayer would have to downgrade by at least 40% just to stand still financially.. A BTL mortgage won't help much, with higher rates.

Alex, London,

Ashley, Colchester. Sadly, you seem to be as deluded as half the rest of the population on the demand exceeds supply rubbish. Think about it. Property prices are crashing and now rents are falling. Even a GCSE economics student knows that these are classic signs that SUPPLY EXCEEDS DEMAND!

Graham, Oxford, UK

Ashley, you say 'once mortgages become more available, the prices will rise again'- Mortgages will never become as 'available' as they were, hence prices will never baloon as they did. Lack of credit results in a lack of demand, families rent, young adults live with their parents, prices fall.

steven pill, bedale, uk

No one is forced to let their home. Most cant sell as they are holding out for the 2007 price (which is completely removed from the reality of todays market)

Oh well, appears the much touted housing shortage has subsided, not to mention the city centre ghost flats!

A Harris, Kettering, UK

People won't lower the price as they can't afford to, it's that simple. But they can afford to rent them and makes sense. Once mortgages become more available the prices will rise again as we all know demand outstips supply, especially when building firms are stopping all developments

Ashley, Colchester, England

Renting because they WON'T sell, not because they CAN'T sell.
If they really wanted to sell, all they'd have to do is drop the price.
But people are so obsessed with the idea that their little castle is 'worth' what it was at last year's peak, they can't bring themselves to lower the price.

cp, London, UK

Ahhhh Diddums. Falling property prices are a good thing.

Jack Tar, London,