The people who sold-to-rent (STR) have a vested interest in talking down the property market in the hope that a property crash occurs so that they can buy a property on the cheap from a poor distressed home owner who is forced to sell because they lost their job and cannot keep up with their mortgage payments with the intention of then waiting for the next property boom and sell the property for an absurdly high price to some gullible and naive buyer who is being ripped off and thereby make a significant amount of money.

The STRs claim that a property crash is coming but they are very mistaken and every day that goes by without even the slightest sign a crash occurring only undermines their case. Many predicted that a crash would happen years ago but house prices have only continued to rise and anybody taking the STRs advice to sell their property will have certainly lost out on some spectacular rises in house prices. The STR scaremongers have cried wolf so often in predicting an imminent property crash and their predictions have been proved wrong time and time again that they are starting to look ridiculous and foolish and are no longer believed.

The STRs argue that the gap between property prices and wages is now so vast that some correction in house prices must inevitably occur. However, this ignores the most powerful dynamic of all - supply and demand. House building is currently performing at about half that would be required to stave off further astronomic price rises. House prices continue to defy gravity and confound predictions of a slowdown. The housing market continues to hold up because of current economic conditions, notably high employment levels and low mortgage rates. There is a high level of consumer confidence that house prices will rise strongly over the next few years. Conditions in the housing market and the economy are different now to those of the late 80s and early 90s. The boom and bust of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s have been succeeded by a more stable housing market in which high house prices are more sustainable than they were in the past. Economy stability, benign inflation environment, historically low interest rates and record number of people in work all means that demand for houses will remain strong.

Some STRs say that they want house prices to fall to sensible levels so that they can buy a property at a reasonable price and claim that they are not interested in making money from any future rises in house prices but this is complete nonsense because the STRs always view property as an investment and would never entertain the idea of buying a property unless they thought they can make a substantial profit by selling the property for a much higher price in the future.

The STRs seem to think that a property crash will occur over-night that will cause house prices to crash back to sensible levels but this is very wishful thinking because it will take many years to bring house prices back to normal levels. The STRs wrongly assume that a crash will somehow make property cheap but they are very mistaken because property will still remain expensive even in the event of a crash and the STRs will find themselves very disappointed by the scale of falls in house prices during a crash. There will have to be at least a 20% reduction in house prices just in order for the STRs to break even when buying a property to cover the transaction costs involved like stamp duty, estate agent and solicitors fees.

The STRs are getting itchy feet and are fed up of renting and cannot wait to get back onto the property ladder. It is somewhat strange that the STRs are so keen to get back onto the property ladder when they were so keen to get off the property ladder in the first place. It is best for all concerned that house prices remain high for the foreseeable future in order that the STR suffer the stigma and humiliation of living in rented accommodation forever as punishment for having sold their home at a ridiculously high price to some over-stretched and gullible buyer.

The STRs claim that there are vested interests trying to talk up house prices and yet the STRs are not exactly free of vested interests themselves because they want a property crash to occur so that they can buy a property at a low price with the intention of selling the property for a much higher price and make a substantial profit in the next property boom. The trouble is that the STRs don't know what trigger will cause a property crash, when the property crash will happen, by how much house prices will fall, when the trough in house prices will be reached, how long property prices will remain languishing at the bottom and worse still they do not know when the next boom in house prices will begin.

The STRs fail to appreciate the fact that it is only a severe recession that causes house prices to crash. The current economic and housing boom started in 1996 and has now lasted ten years which means that there will be a long and deep recession lasting about ten years in order to unwind and roll back all the excesses and distortions of the current boom and return the economy back to the normal state it was in prior to the boom having started. It is only until the recession has managed to completely unwind the boom such that the economy is purged of all the inflationary excesses of the boom will the economy then be in a state where a new boom can take place causing house prices to rise.

There is little point in the STRs waiting for a property crash to buy property because there is unlikely to be another house price boom for at least ten years which means that even if a property crash does occur it won't necessarily make it a good time to buy property since house prices will be falling or languishing at the bottom for ten years whilst the economy is in recession and there is little advantage in buying a property that will not be appreciating in value for many years until the next economic boom begins in ten years time. Buying a property that is not appreciating in value is simply wasting money and the value of the property will not be appreciating to keep up with inflation which means that the value of the property is being continually eroded away by inflation.

It is the STR speculators who take the most interest as to what is happening to the housing market rather than first time buyers who in many cases have given up any hope of getting onto the property ladder in their lifetime. The STRs are continually posting negative reports about the housing market on various internet chat forums in a desperate attempt to talk down house prices and are clutching at straws in using the slightest bit of bad news, no matter how trivial, to justify a house price crash.

It looks like we have to go through a ten year long recession, causing misery to millions of people, just to enable the STRs to get back onto the property ladder. The STRs are just deceitful, lying, greedy scum who are just waiting to take advantage of other peoples misery by buying a property at a low price from a distressed home owner who is forced to sell because they can no longer keep up the mortgage payments.

The people who sold-to-rent (STR) let greed cloud their judgement and sold their property based on the assumption that house prices would crash soon after they sold their property which would enable them to get back onto the property ladder and buy a property on the cheap in a crash but it hasn't quite worked out that way since the housing boom has continued for much longer than they had expected and as a consequence the STRs have seriously miscalculated and are now resigned to the fact that they will continue paying dead money in rent for much longer than they had anticipated.

The STRs moan and whinge about high house prices but that did not stop them from taking advantage of the property boom and selling their house for a high price to an over-stretched, naive and gullible buyer, knowing full well that the property they were selling was way over-priced and the buyer was being ripped off.

There is a strong whiff of hypocrisy from the STRs who say that house prices are too high and yet they were quite happy to sell their property at a high price when it suited their interests and as soon as they sold their property they start to complain that property prices are too high. The STRs are just two-faced hypocrites who would at one moment talk the property market up when they are trying to sell a property at a high price and make a significant profit and the next moment are quite prepared to talk down the property market soon after they sold their property when they want to get back onto the property ladder.

The STRs want to have it both ways, they want house prices to be high when they are selling a property and they want house prices to be low when they are trying to buy a property. Since the STRs were quite happy to exploit the property boom and sell their property at a ridiculously high price, knowing full well that the property was way over priced and that the buyer was being ripped off, then the STRs have no right to complain about high property prices because they are so keen to get back onto the property ladder when they were quite prepared to sell their property for a high price.

Some STRs even have the bare faced cheek to write to their Members of Parliament to complain about high house prices when they were quite happy to take full advantage of high house prices by selling their property for a ridiculously high price, knowing full well that the property was way over priced to some poor over-stretched gullible and naive buyer. The STRs who have been writing to their MPs complaining about high property prices did not complain to their MPs about high house prices before they sold their property for a high price but only complained after they sold their property which is dishonest and totally disreputable and despicable.

Since the STRs sold their property for a high price then it only makes sense that the STRs should themselves be made to pay a high price for property if they want to get back onto the property ladder. Although the STRs were quite happy to sell their property for a high price they are reluctant themselves to pay a high price for property and want a property crash to happen that causes property prices to fall significantly so that they can then buy a property on the cheap.

The STRs just can't understand what is keeping the housing boom going and many STRs made the miscalculation of selling too early and have missed out on some truly spectacular capital gains since selling their property.

Many people who sold-to-rent (STR) are having serious misgivings about selling their homes because they are continually seeing the value of the properties they sold rise in value. Many who sold-to-rent cannot bear to watch the news or read the newspapers for fear that they will report another surge in house prices. Many STRs are in denial that the houses they sold have risen in value since they sold them and are trying desperately to keep a brave face in public but in reality they know that they have missed out on steep rises in the values of their properties since they sold them and are kicking themselves for having become greedy and selling at the wrong time when the best option would have been to have waited and enjoyed the further additional capital gains they would have enjoyed if only they had not got so greedy and sold so early.

Many STRs are filled with fear and apprehension when walking past an estate agent for fear that they might catch a glimpse of what their house is now worth after they sold it and they are making a conscious decision to avoid going past estate agents for fear of finding out how much the properties they sold have gone up by since they sold them. Some STRs have developed a phobia of estate agent advertisements in newspapers and the property supplements in newspapers in case they discover by how much the properties they sold has risen since they sold. Many STRs try to ignore and set aside the property supplements and estate agent adverts and when their friends read the supplements and see by how much the properties that the STR sold has risen by they grin and pull a face of unbridled and unrestrained glee that their STR friend is missing out on having made so much money.

Many STRs are having sleepless nights and breaking into cold sweats about how much money they could have made if only they did not sell so early. Some STRs are finding the taunts and baiting that they are getting from their home-owner friends at work unbearable but the STRs try to keep a brave face but deep inside the STRs are feeling absolutely sick about having missed out on the further steep rises in house prices. Many STRs are increasingly getting depressed as they see no end to the property boom and are becoming ever more miserable and angry with themselves and some are saying that selling to rent was the worst decision of their lives.

Not a day goes by without the STRs having serious misgivings about selling their homes and thinking about by how much the property they sold has risen by since they sold it. Every day the STR is reminded about houses prices and wince and cringe whenever they over hear people in the office talking about how much their houses have gone up in value. The STR must be living a life of hell as they are always living in dread when reading the newspapers or listening to the news or hearing people in the office talking about house prices because the last thing the STR wants to hear is that house prices are still going up. Many STRs are now resigned to the very real possibility that they will be living in rented accommodation for many years to come and may never get another chance to get back onto the property ladder. The money that the STR made by selling their house is little consolation when they find themselves living in rented accommodation forever.

The STRs are desperate to reinvest the money they made in selling their house as soon as possible because they fear that the longer they leave their money in the bank the less it will be worth because rising inflation is continually eroding away the value of their money. The STRs are in a race against time to try to reinvest their STR money back into property before their STR fund becomes worthless because of rising inflation. Low interest rates means that the STRs are earning a pathetically small amount of interest by keeping their STR fund money in a bank account which at best is just barely keeping up with inflation. The STRs dispute the claim that inflation is eroding away the value of their STR money by saying that there are many bank accounts that earn interest at or near the official rate of inflation. However, even the dogs in the street know that the true inflation rate is much higher than the official inflation rate and the true inflation rate is much nearer ten percent rather than the official two percent and there are few bank accounts that will earn interest above ten percent particularly after tax has been deducted. Given that the real inflation rate is closer to ten percent rather than the official figure of two percent this means that after ten years the value of the STRs fund money will in real terms end up being practically worthless.

The STRs seriously miscalculated in assuming that the cost of renting will be dramatically less than the costs of servicing the mortgage they once had because low and falling interest rates has meant that the interest payments on their mortgage would be very low in comparison to renting out a similar type of property. The STRs took a gamble in selling their house on the assumption that house prices would crash soon after they sold their house and they could buy a property very cheaply and get back onto the property ladder fairly quickly. However, the housing boom shows no signs of crashing and the STRs will have to wait many years before there is any chance of a crash occurring. The miscalculation of the STRs in assuming that they could get back onto the property ladder quickly is costing them dear because whilst they are waiting for the crash they are continually paying dead money in rent which is helping to pay off their landlord's mortgage whilst the value of their STR fund money is continually being eroded away by inflation.

The STRs outgoings and expenses have increased considerably since selling their house and living in rented accommodation because they had not foreseen the detrimental impact that living in rented accommodation would have on their quality of life and as a consequence they are finding themselves spending far more than they did when they owned their house just in order to get over the feelings of depression, anxiety and uncertainty associated with renting and living with the constant fear of never being able to get a foot onto the property ladder ever again.

Property has long been a major investment sector in the UK and people have always appreciated the benefits of owning property over the long term, particularly in terms of capital appreciation. This is hardly surprising when you consider that the property market has consistently generated good returns for UK investors over the past 40 years and residential property has on average doubled in value every seven years.

Despite its historically positive performance, property continues to be the victim of an onslaught of the STR speculators who keep promising an imminent crash just around the corner. There are a number of very good reasons to doubt these predictions. Firstly, interest rates remain low by historic standards and mortgages are at their cheapest for more than 25 years. The predicted property crash is also more unlikely to materialise when you consider the fact that the UK has high GDP growth and employment levels and a shortage of housing supply. In fact, the quantity of newly developed units is more than 100,000 behind current demand levels and the gap is expected to widen, with house building in the UK at its lowest since the Second World War.

Here are the reasons why you can't go wrong with property as an investment:

• Property prices always rise in the long term
• People prefer to live in a place of their own rather than living in rented accommodation.
• Paying rent is 'dead money', just money down the drain and money that is helping to pay off the landlord's mortgage.
• You must stay on the housing ladder, because downturns are short, and you cannot predict when to buy back in.
• The government and banks will not allow the property market to fall, there is too much at stake for them.
• There's a buyer out there that wants your property.
• People always need a place to live.
• The value of the UK's private housing stock has trebled over the last ten years.
• Householders are confident that the value of their property will continue to climb and continue to regard bricks and mortar as a sound investment.
• The number of people intending to buy a new home in the next few years is increasing.
• Rising incomes will catch up with house prices which means that house prices will remain high
• Household growth, and with it the demand for houses, is likely to accelerate over the next decade, with immigrants accounting for a good proportion of that growth
• Young couples with record wealth are fuelling the demand for second homes
• Changing demographics, a rising population and increasing prosperity and rising incomes will increase demand for property
• Housing is still relatively affordable because of a combination of low interest rates, competitive fixed-rate mortgage deals that are on offer and rising incomes.
• Despite the recent surge in house prices, it is on average 30 per cent cheaper to buy than rent a home in the UK over a 25 year period.
• Any fall in house prices will encourage the buy-to-let landlords into the property market to snap up properties which will help support the housing market and prevent any sharp falls in house prices.
• There is alot of pent up demand from FTBs and STRs who have been unable to afford the high property prices and have been waiting patiently on the sidelines and any fall in house prices will cause these people to snap up properties causing house prices to rise.
• London winning the bid to host the Olympics in 2012 will boost the demand for property and help keep house prices high.

Oil and gold have hit the headlines recently with prices of each reaching record highs. These price explosions have brought annual price inflation of these commodities up to over 40%. Silver has also increased dramatically, rising by over 70% in the last year. This makes the recent upturn in annual house price inflation to around 5% in the last two months look decidedly modest.

However, housing outperforms in the longer term. In spite of the very strong recent and historical rallies in commodity prices, including the two OPEC oil price crises in the 1970s, housing has still outperformed over the longer term. Since 1970 house prices have increased by over 3,500% compared to the increase in oil prices of around 1,750%, gold of around 1,550% and silver of about 500%.

The STRs assumed that the property crash would occur soon after they sold their property but things have not turned out the way the STRs had hoped since the housing boom has continued for much longer than they had expected and shows no signs of crashing for many years.

This is very bad news for the STRs since they had planned on living in rented accommodation for only a short time but now they are faced with having to pay dead money in rent for many years whilst they wait for a property crash.

The disadvantages of being an STR is living in rented accommodation, hidden financial costs, the risk which flows from any form of speculation, and stresses within the family unit caused by the decision to speculate. The longer it takes for a property crash to occur and for the trough in house prices to be reached, and the smaller the eventual fall in house prices, will only make the decision by the STR to sell to rent worse.

The STRs claim that it is cheaper to rent than to buy. Yes, it is if people are buying a property at todays high prices but what about those who bought years ago when property prices were much cheaper. In many cases the costs of renting would be more than the mortgage payments on a comparable property. There would be the costs of moving twice and costs of storage. The STRs say the eventual financial profits will far outweigh any hidden or extra costs incurred by selling to rent provided that there is a property crash, which is a big assumption to make.

Even if there is a correction, will the profits be sufficient to compensate for the years spent in rented accommodation. Will the STRs buy at the right time? It's very difficult to call the trough in any market and the STRs could get their timing to get back onto the property market completely wrong.

Even if a property crash does occur there is no guarantee that the STRs profits will be maximised. Selling your home is a speculative venture and there is no certainty in speculation, although the STRs will tell you this particular speculation is a sure bet, a done deal. However, this is no ordinary speculation, one is not investing in stocks and shares, the STRs are gambling with their house and they had better get it right for their family's sake.

The STRs were hoping that the money they made in selling their property (STR fund) will help them to buy a bigger and better property more cheaply in a crash but since a property crash is unlikely to occur for many years it must be a temptation for the STR to spend their STR fund rather than saving it. Low interest rates means that the STRs are earning very little interest by keeping their STR fund in the bank whilst all the time the value of their money is being eroded away by inflation and the interest their money is earning is barely enough to preserve the value of their money from the erosive effects of inflation. If the STRs spend the interest they earn from their STR fund then this means that their STR fund is no longer keeping up with inflation. The STRs may choose to invest their STR fund money in risky speculative investments that may deliver better returns than leaving the money in the bank but they could lose alot of money this way.

A major downside in the STRs speculating on their home is the potential strains that their family may experience as time progresses. The STRs may have persuaded their partner initially, but three years down the line will they be so keen? What happens when the STRs partner insists they want their own home? They're fed up with renting? The Jones' have a wonderful home, why can't we? Must we live in Chav Street? Will the relationship withstand the future uncertainties and very real prospect of never getting back onto the property ladder. Those who sold to rent in 2003/2004 will have seen house prices continue to rise, and the STRs will have nothing tangible to show. One cannot over-estimate the stresses which can brought to bear on a family when embarking on the venture to sell the family home and live in rented accommodation.

Many STRs would prefer to live in a home of their own rather than living in rented accommodation although many STRs say that living in rented accommodation means that they are free of the financial milestones associated with home ownership. If renting is so wonderful why is it then that they are waiting for a property crash in order to buy a property? Living permanently in rented accommodation is not the intention of the STR, although you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

The prospect of renting fills the STRs with dread and is not the preferred option. Only a few people prefer to live in rented accommodation as opposed to living in their own home. The STRs intention is to live in rented accommodation for only a short time provided there are healthy financial profits to justify the pain, and profits which can be reaped over the shortest possible time before buying again.

The STRs have made themselves and their family homeless out of greed in the hope of making a substantial profit. The STRs are hoping for a property crash of 30% or more but this is wishful thinking as property prices are unlikely to fall by more than 20% and in the meantime the STRs are wasting their money in rent not to mention all the fees they will once again have to pay if they were to buy property (stamp duty, solicitor's fees, searches, removal costs, costs to redecorate etc). The money the STRs are paying in rent is wasted money, just money down the drain, that is helping to make their landlord richer.

The STRs are waiting for a property crash so that they can "bag a bargain" by buying a property on the cheap during a crash. The STRs are getting more miserable and depressed as they spend every waking minute worrying about high property prices and are looking in vain for signs of a property crash but are continually perplexed, flummoxed, bewildered, bemused, dumbfounded and baffled by continual reports of rises in houses prices. Whilst the STRs wait for the property crash they are wasting money in rent that is helping to pay off their landlord's mortgage.

As it is clear there isn't going to be a property crash the STRs who tried to make a quick buck are left with two choices (just like many innocent first time buyers who tragically held off buying and foolishly listened to those who promised a crash): they can either swallow their pride and admit that they called the market wrong and try to get back on the property ladder at 2004/2005 prices or they can keep paying dead money in rent for the foreseeable future. I guess that is what you call being caught between a rock and a hard place. You can smell the fear of the STR. Scared to buy, scared to miss out on further rises in house prices. Tragic. The STRs are in a dilemma of their own making and have only themselves to blame.

In helping the STRs to make a choice of whether they should get back onto the property ladder now or stay living in rented accommodation for the foreseable future the STRs will need to consider the costs of living in rented accommodation over a number of years as shown in the table below:

Many property doom-mongers were predicting at the beginning of 2003 that house prices would crash by 30% in 2005. Acting on this promise thousands of home-owners decided to sell to rent (STR) on the promise that the trough in house prices would be reached quickly and no doubt family members were persuaded to embark on this venture on this basis. Two years later and the trough in house prices is at least five years away. "Darling, just another five years...please" . In fact, house prices are still rising. Many families are experiencing tensions as a result of this extended wait, tensions which will continue at least until house prices start falling. Using one's home as a speculative asset is not everyone's cup of tea. A further five years in rented accommodation will not be acceptable to most nest builders. The STRs must buy in the trough to maximise their profits otherwise the venture is a waste of time. Many relationships will be ruined because of the reckless speculative venture in selling to rent.

The STRs were motivated to sell their home by the large profit they would make but this has to outweigh the stresses involved in selling their property and live in rented accommodation. A 10% fall with the market troughing in ten years for most STRs would be insufficient. A 40% fall in three years may be a different matter and provide the incentive to speculate.

The STRs are having to endure an interminable wait before the trough is reached in house prices. Few STRs expected that the property market would still be so strong at this stage. The STRs embarked on the adventure to sell to rent with a view to making significant profits and quickly. They gambled with their homes and their relationships. The STRs have to balance any financial gains against the detriment of not living in their own homes and so far for them the detriment vastly outweighs any benefits. Those STRs who sold in 2003 will have found that two years since they sold their property that house prices have still not gone negative. Cracks are showing in their relationships. They will lose face if they buy in a falling market. So they are stuck until the trough. For many STRs their sole investment are the proceeds from their homes.

If the STRs knew anything about economics, and in particular, if they knew how capitalist economies work, then they would not be wasting their time waiting for a property crash to occur.

The economy exhibits a boom-bust cycle in that it experiences around seven years of boom, in which the economy is expanding, followed by seven years of recession, in which the economy is contracting, and the cycle repeats itself. This makes the cycle fourteen years in duration from peak to peak, trough to trough. However, the duration of the economic cycle tends to vary from one cycle to the next and has tended to get longer in that each succeeding boom is bigger and longer than the last boom and likewise each recession is more severe and longer than the last recession.

The current boom started in 1996 and is not expected to go bust, causing a recession, until 2010/2011 which means that the boom will have lasted for fifteen years. A recession that follows a boom tends to last as long as the preceding boom itself and since the current boom will have lasted fifteen years this means that the next recession is also likely to last fifteen years.

It is not until a recession has managed to rollback and unwind all the excesses and distortions of the preceding boom and return the economy back to the state it was in prior to the boom having started will the economy then be in a state where another economic boom can begin that causes house prices to rise again.

The boom and bust in the housing market tends to follow the boom and bust economic cycle in that house prices rise when the economy is in a boom and fall when the economy is in recession. It is sometimes said that the housing market has seven good years, in which house prices are rising, followed by seven bad years in which house prices are falling, and the cycle repeats itself.

The STRs are hoping that a property crash would make property cheap but smart property investors know that it doesn't make sense to buy property if property prices are not going to be rising for many years. Clever property investors buy property when prices are starting to rise as the economy emerges from a slump and enters another economic boom, not when property prices start to fall as the economy enters into a slump which will cause house prices to remain langiushing at the bottom for many years.

The STRs clearly lack logic and commonsense and fail to realise that there is no point in buying a property as soon as a recession starts because the recession will last many years which will keep property prices languishing at the bottom for a long time and anybody buying a property in the early stages of a recession will be lumbered with an asset that will not be appreciating in value for many years.

The STRs will have to wait until the next recession is over before another economic boom can take place that will cause house prices to rise again which will make it a good time to buy a property. The current boom won't come to an end until 2010/2011 and this will be followed by a fifteen year long recession which means that it won't be until 2025/2026 before it becomes a good time to buy property just as house prices begin to rise again as the economy emerges from the long slump and enters into another boom.

Since another boom in house prices won't start until 2025/2026 this means that it won't be a good time for the STRs to buy property for twenty years.

House price bubble? What bubble? Those who claim that there is a bubble in house prices are wrong. If there were a bubble, there would exist a deviation of prices from fundamentals but a close look at the data reveals that the fundamentals adequately explain the current level of house prices. The pessimists argue that the ratio of house prices to income or rents, or mortgage payments to income ratios are now so vast that some correction in house prices must inevitably occur. These ratios are not very informative about the presence of bubbles, because they ignore a range of other important factors, including demographic and population changes, house-building, credit conditions, and other asset prices. Conventional ratios such as house price to rent ratios are misleading because they fail to account for long-run trends in real interest rates that have made housing rather more affordable in recent years.

The current high level of UK house prices does not look overvalued once low long-term interest rates are taken into account. This means that house prices today are not substantially overvalued above their long term equilibrium levels and therefore are not enough to qualify as a bubble which means that there is no evidence of a bubble in house prices. Strong rises in house prices can be largely explained by the combination of strong income growth, higher population growth (partly from immigration), lower interest rates and low rates of house building.

The pessimists argue that UK house prices are overvalued by 30 per cent, or even more and warn of the danger of a protracted period of house price falls, with dire implications for consumer spending. But these pessimists are wrong. Even if one considers a gloomy scenario in which the economy turns sour - inflation rises, interest rates rise in response, real income falls and the stock market is flat for two years, this would only lead to moderate falls in house prices, especially in London and the south-east but not in the country as a whole.

The fundamentals are sound and adequately explain the current level of house prices. So, the answer to the question "was there a recent house price bubble in the UK?" thus appears to have the answer "No".

The house price boom has entered a period of stagnation in which house prices are levelling off and there won't be a sudden crash. The recent emergence of the BTL landlord will ensure that any fall in house prices will be short lived since they will take advantage of any lull in house prices and snap up properties causing house prices to rise back up again.

Reasonably priced, well presented homes are still selling. In fact it's a good time for serious purchasers, including first time buyers, to jump in and find a good property for they are in a great position, with a big choice of homes for sale, and the opportunity to negotiate hard on price to get a good deal. Estate agents remain optimistic and are seeing many new properties coming on to the market selling like hot cakes.

Recently there has been a clear change in the mood of the housing market pessimists with many of them questioning whether there will be a price crash at all and now accepting that house prices are likely to stagnate for many years. There will have to be a dramatic change in economic fundamental in order to cause a crash. The combination of improving economic growth, low interest rates and high employment will continue to underpin a healthy level of housing demand over the next few years. Drawing comparisons between now and the late 1980s when the previous housing market bubble burst, some economists say that the current strong labour market would help avert a steep fall in prices. We are not going to see a rise in unemployment which could force homeowners to sell their houses and boost supply. There may well be a short-term dip in property prices, if the market over corrects itself. More likely is that the growth will slow down for a reasonable period.

The STRs only chance of getting back onto the property ladder is if there is a recession that results in many forced sellers trying to sell their property causing supply to exceed demand and thereby result in lower house prices. Even if house prices do fall, it would be foolish for home owners to start panicking. Homeowners should bear in mind that property is a long term investment and regardless of any falls that may occur in house prices in the short term property always goes up in value in the long term. Homeowners will only lose money if they sell at a low price and provided they don't panic, sit tight, hold on and ride out the downturn, then and in a year or so, the chances are that they will once again be enjoying satisfactory growth on their asset value.

Investment in property carries an inherently low risk factor compared to other kinds of investment like stocks and shares. Houses will not go out of fashion or become obsolete like services or products. They are an essential for us all. That’s why house prices have consistently doubled every 10-15 years over the last century. Coupled with the fact that monthly rental values rise with wages (which is a function of inflation) and that the mortgage payment is relatively fixed (only altering with interest rate fluctuations) the profit element always rises. In addition, after the mortgage has been paid the rent is all profit. That’s why many people see investing in property as their pension fund.

House prices cannot fall by much since there are far too many people out there who have decided they're waiting for a crash to buy up. This means as soon as there is a downturn, these people waiting in the wings will swoop in for their bargains, and the demand will increase once again. The other thing to bear in mind, is that a house only has value when people sell. This means that in a downturn, people will not sell unless they have to, thus reducing the supply of housing. With the increasing number of single people living alone, there is simply not enough housing.

House prices will not crash. Salaries in central London are still very high and demand is huge. With the high numbers of rich people from overseas looking to buy a place in London and the supply of good housing so small, simple economics states that while demand is greater than supply the prices will continue to rise. Anyone who has bought in the last year will know that there are very few properties in the good areas and if they exist they are gone within days.

House prices don't fall unless a lot of homeowners find it impossible to sustain their mortgage payments and are forced to sell. This only happens if interest rates rise abruptly and unexpectedly, and that isn't on the horizon. Most likely, house prices will stabilise and property market turnover evaporate.

The most likely scenario will not be a house price crash but a levelling off. There is still very strong demand in London and whilst interest rates are low houses are a lot more affordable than before the 90's crash. Also London is the centre of the service industry, one part of the economy that is still very strong. At the moment those hoping for a crash will be disappointed.

The housing market is not going to crash for the foreseeable future. Even if property prices were to fall in a downturn it will make investing in property more effective from a value approach, and produces greater "dividends". This attracts more buyers for investment reasons, as well as a few first time buyers who can now afford a better place, and prices will rise again. It's no good the STRs praying for the mother of all crashes, it simply is not going to happen.

Inflation will eat into the value of the money made by the STRs in selling their house (STR fund), reducing its buying power over time. Although inflation has been fairly low in recent years, it will still eat into their STR fund. With the official rate of inflation at 2.0% and the standard rate of tax at 22%, the STRs will need to earn a gross interest rate (before tax) on their STR fund of 2.56% just to maintain the value of their capital. For those who enter the higher rate tax band of 40% they will have to earn gross interest (before tax) of 3.33% to preserve the value of their capital.

However, it is widely acknowledged that the officially quoted inflation figure of 2% is fiddled since it is far too low and the true rate of inflation is much nearer 5%. Given that the realistic rate of inflation is 5% rather than 2% then this means that the standard rate tax payer will need to earn a gross interest (before tax) on their savings of 6.41% and the higher rate tax payer will need to earn a gross interest (before tax) of 8.33% in order to preserve the value of their savings.

The current rate of interest set by the Bank of England stands at 4.5% but most bank accounts do not earn more than 4% gross interest (before tax) which means that the STRs are struggling to find a bank account for their STR fund money that earns enough interest to preserve their STR fund against the effects of inflation.

The doom mongers who had argued that a property crash is inevitable are now admitting defeat and accept that a property crash will not occur in the foreseeable future. The scaremongers had been bearish about the property market for many years but their predictions have been continually proved wrong and they have been stunned by recent reports of a renewed rise in house prices following the recent lull. The property bears are totally demoralised and inconsolable at news of another surge in house prices and are having difficulty in coming to terms with the new era of permanently high house prices.

The people who have been bullish about the property market have been vindicated and are triumphant whereas the property bears are licking their wounds and are retreating from view in the face of their humiliating defeat.

Much as there are three stages for accepting a bad turn of events; denial, anger, acceptance; there also appear to be three stages of denial when it comes to the doom-mongers predicting house prices:

1. "History always repeats itself"

Here, people who know all about economics, asset classes, bubbles, Japanese deflation, etc (but little about what is happening in the real world) tell us that because ratios such as house prices to earnings are similar to levels seen before previous periods of house price deflation, then a crash is imminent. Anybody disagreeing with such theories (including experienced property investors who know their local market intimately) is dismissed as lacking any understanding of economics and being brainwashed by the media of following the herd and believing in a new paradigm. Sadly some believed in a property crash so strongly that they either postponed buying a house to live in, or (get this) even sold their property and rented one instead.

2. "It may not have happened yet but that means it will soon, and it will be all the more painful"

These people believed that the bubble was getting bigger, and would therefore burst with an even bigger bang. Sadly, they failed to recognise that for most people, home ownership is about lifestyle rather than investing in an asset, and that the low-interest rate economy and low unemployment, changes in attitudes to renting, and the BTL brigade, had all created a very different housing market from ten years previously. This phase is marked with every bit of "bad" news seized on as evidence, and every bit of "good" news angrily dismissed as a media conspiracy.

3. "The crash still hasn't happened, I feel so stupid"

After a brief glimmer of hope after prices failed to continue to rise (and even showed small year on year drops), the lack of any evidence of the "bubble" bursting has the doom-mongers running out of new arguments. Some of them cling to the "it will happen, I may be a decade out with the timing" argument, others quietly go away. Meanwhile those in the know take advantage of the fact that houses don't now sell at asking price within a couple of weeks and start snapping up some bargains at 20% or more below market value, either to rent out at 9%+ yields, or to sell on for a quick profit.

Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day. This sums up the constant warnings of a property crash of the scare mongers. The doom mongers have been predicting the end of the housing boom for so long that, sooner or later, they must get it right.

While all economic forecasting is hazardous, house prices have been especially so. The Economist magazine warned that we were in the biggest global housing bubble in history. Housing markets around the world had looked "alarmingly frothy" for some time, the magazine said. The way in which the boom would end could decide the fate of the whole world economy in the next few years.

In November 2002, Steven Bell, global chief economist at Deutsche Asset Management, stated: "House prices, particularly in London, are set to fall by 10 per cent over the next year and could drop by 20 per cent. Doom mongers found plenty of other distinguished academics to back them up. These included cerebral academics such as Andrew Oswald, a professor of economics at Warwick University. In November 2002, he wrote: "I think we are about to go through the great housing crash of 2003 to 2005." He had been right about the end of the 1980s boom, he pointed out. The coming crash would be even more hellish. "I advise you to sell your house, and move into rented accommodation," he wrote, before ending on the dramatic note: "Panic will then set in." Andrew Farlow, an economics tutor at Oxford University, struck a similar note in a research paper published in the same month. "Today is probably the riskiest time in a generation to get on the housing ladder," he advised.

In July 2003, just before the market hit another bull run, the Daily Mail wrote: "Britain is heading for a housing market slump amid evidence that the gap between property prices and pay is at a record high." The article, by Sean Poulter, was backed up by impressive statistics. For instance, the house price to earnings ratio had reached 5.2, compared with a long-term average of 3.6. The figure has since crept up to 6. The article - like countless others - leant heavily on research by Capital Economics, by now the best-known of the bears Capital Economics which stood out as a particularly vehement harbinger of doom in predicting price falls of up to 20 per cent.

Capital is run by Roger Bootle, a former chief economist at HSBC and one of the Bank of England's committee of "wise men" under the last Conservative government. The company has put its reputation on the line more than anyone else. Capital first came out at the end of 2002 with a prediction that strong growth would go into reverse by the end of 2003. As it happened, the continued strength of the property market in early 2004 was a source of considerable embarrassment for Capital Economics which led to a humiliating climbdown and considerable loss of face for Roger Bootle in that he conceded that the scarcity of new housing combined with easier access to mortgages would defend property prices against a sharp drop, scaling back his forecast to a modest 5pc fall over the next two years. "Several factors have come to light which might suggest that house prices are likely to remain more firmly supported than we had expected," said Ed Stansfield of Capital Economics. He cited lower interest rates, strong employment growth and looser criteria for securing a mortgage.

House prices have continued to defy the doom mongers. The average price of a home is entirely a function of decisions, sensible or otherwise, by millions of ordinary people buying or selling homes. Should they decide that it is rational to borrow six times their salaries, when renting might be much cheaper, there is little the doom mongers can do about it.

In April 2004, another hand-wringing prediction came from the most authoritative of sources, the International Monetary Fund, which said there was a "likelihood of a sharp price correction". And in the same month came a call from Tony Dye, head of Dye Asset Management, that prices were ready to topple. Tony Dye had already earned himself a reputation as "Dr. Doom" by accurately forecasting the collapse of the dotcom pyramid. Unfortunately, he had been premature in his timing - and left his previous job at Phillips & Drew after missing out on potential gains during that boom. Dye's comments in an article in the FT, "Everyone is hoping for a soft landing but, no, we don't have soft landings in things like this, ever", were carried the next day by most of the national press and several television programmes, and picked over at length.

The doom-monger phenomenon calls to mind the crazy men walking around with placards or sandwich boards forecasting that the end of the world is nigh. One day, one of them will be proven right and the rest of us will be the mad ones. Sadly for the crazies, however, this may not be imminent.

This view is summed up by John Wriglesworth, economist at the property and research database company Hometrack. He once said that the idea of house prices falling by 45 per cent was akin to the chance of finding Elvis on the moon. Many "experts" - albeit mostly with vested interests - still sound convinced that there will be a soft landing.

Many doom-mongers have become so weary of being caught out yet again that they have fallen silent on the subject. Andrew Oswald, the Warwick University professor, for example, now refuses to talk publicly about house prices.

Here is a step-by-step guide for those who let greed cloud their judgement and decided to cash in on the property boom by selling their property and live in rented accommodation:

1. Sell your house

Now, I know that you love it. You and your wife are very happy there. The kids love it. Your neighbours are your best friends. You have spent five years getting it just the way you want. Your mother & father have spent much of their spare time getting the garden laid out. Stop being a soppy fool….there's money to be made….sell it now!!

2. Move into a rented property.
1. Purple tiles in the en-suite but what-the-hell
2. I wonder just what these faint marks on the carpets are. Did the last tenant have a puppy?
3. The kitchen is green, but it's growing on you already.
4. You like DIY, but you'll be damned if you're doing up someone else's place. Just mope around at weekends instead.
5. The wife hates it but she just doesn't understand the concept of maximising the return
6. The kids have to move school but they need to learn to deal with change anyway.
3. Start to panic
1. It's been months now and the “crash” has brought prices in your area tumbling by nearly 2%! You're in the money! Oops, you forgot about the 4% Estate Duty.
2. Start posting on discussion boards. If you can convince the entire nation to STR then prices will collapse and you can buy back in 50% of the market peak.
4. Stop panicking and become miserable
1. We are all doomed
2. The economy is stuffed
3. War is imminent
4. Disease will wipe out shares, jobs, grandma's pension, oh, and house prices!
5. Settle down convinced that the theory is fine. But why stop there:
1. Sell the car and invest the proceeds at 3% after tax. Who needs comfort anyway? Comfortable heated seats….waste of money. What's wrong with the commuter train anyway……so what if you are surrounded by sweaty punters who could do with a scrub. So what if you spend 2 hours a day getting pushed around. So what if you arrive at work needing a shower? Think of the money….
2. Dump the wife and find a cheaper one on the internet. Wives are intrinsically expensive. Get onto the net and look for a fat, ugly bint with acne. Eastern European or South-East Asian come particularly cheap. For the price of the air ticket, she'll cook, clean, and the rest. You can also put her out to work 80 hours a week! Take her wages as rent and pay her £5 a week pocket money.
3. Dump the kids. What a poor investment they have turned out to be. School fees, food, pocket money.
6. Trade Down!!
1. No family….bedrooms and garden no longer required
2. No car…..driveway & garage no longer required
3. Getting dirty & smelly from the train journey every day anyway. Why bother with a shower. Bathroom not required.
4. Rent a shed on an allotment for £10 a week, and move in!

There you go! Done it! The bank balance is growing faster than it ever has before! Sit back in your hut and wait. Compound interest is a great thing! After 25 years of careful saving, all you have to do is wait for the next 50% plus price crash (say another 20 years), and, at the age of 70, you can buy the biggest house in the neighbourhood!

It's all so simple. Why doesn't every homeowner sell to rent!!

The average rise in property prices across the cities and towns of the top 20 performing universities over the past five years since 2000 was 88% - slightly above the UK average of 83%. Manchester topped the survey with a price growth of 114% since 2000, followed by Bath (113%) and York (109%).

The top 20 universities ranked by performance league table are:

In towns with less successful universities but large student numbers, prices rose by an average of 100% over the period 2000-2005. Prices near the University of Plymouth grew an average of 131%, followed by those near the University of Northumbria at Newcastle (125%).

Universities outside the top 20 performing universities ranked by student population size are:

House prices in seaside areas have increased at a faster rate than elsewhere. The biggest increase in the past three years was seen in Padstow, Cornwall, with the average house rising by 144% to almost £270,000. Withernsea, Yorkshire, followed with a rise of 143%. It was the only area in the top ten not on the South Coast.

The top ten coastal property hotspots that recorded the largest increases 2001-2004 are:

1. Epsom and Ewell
2. City of Westminster
3. Harrogate
4. Ashford, Kent
5. Stratford-on-Avon
6. East Hertfordshire
7. South Cambridgeshire
8. Mole Valley
9. Guildford
10. West Oxfordshire

1. Hull
2. Nottingham
3. Strabane
4. Hackney
5. Middlesborough
6. Mansfield
7. Blaenau Gwent
8. Merthyr Tydfil
9. Salford
10. Easington

1. Romania
2. Poland
3. Portugal
4. The Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)
5. Sweden
6. Belgium
7. Slovakia
8. Slovenia
9. Finland
10. Hungary
11. Luxembourg
12. Germany
13. Czech Republic
14. Ireland
15. Austria
16. Netherlands
17. France
18. Italy
19. Spain
20. Cyprus

Romania has been revealed as the best place to make money from overseas property. It topped a list of the 20 best places to make money from overseas property whose upper reaches were dominated by former Eastern bloc countries.

Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the Baltic Tigers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all featured in the top ten of the list compiled for A Place in the Sun: 20 Best Places to Make Money.

The Channel 4 show presented by property expert Amanda Lamb commissioned statistics from a leading accountancy firm to predict how quickly countries' economies are expected to grow. The ranking takes into account where house prices are over or under-valued at the moment and factors in how much money can be made by renting out a property.

Romania came out top of the list for profit from overseas property because while houses can currently be bought for as little as £5,000, prices are expected to increase by 30 per cent in 2006 as the country prepares for EU accession next year. Over the next ten years, property prices in Romania are predicted to increase by 414 per cent.

Second on the list is Poland where returns over the next ten years are expected to be 393 per cent, while returns on the Baltic States, in fourth place, are expected to be 356 per cent.

Portugal, in third place, is the highest placed western European country with predicted returns of 360 per cent, and completing the top five is Sweden with returns of 352 per cent.

Old favourites such as France, in 17th place, and Spain, in 19th place, were languishing well down the list, but are still likely to be popular with Brits because they offer a more certain environment in which to invest.

1. The Algarve (Portugal) - Golf courses, beaches, sun - no wonder it's number one.
2. Cape Town (South Africa)- South Africa's property hot spot still offers investment potential.
3. Turkey - The country with something for everyone.
4. Slovenia - One of the most beautiful places in the world.
5. Limousin (France) - Beautiful scenery and quiet farming villages and as yet relatively undiscovered.
6. Bulgaria - A cheaper Costa del Sol with houses for the price of a second hand family car in the uk
7. Teruel (Spain)- The cheapest place to buy in Spain
8. Croatia - Once a tragic war zone now a highly desirable destination
9. Cyprus
10. Normandy (France)
11. Barcelona (Spain - Catalonia)- One of the most expensive places to buy property in Europe.
12. Cape Verde - Great beaches, fantastic surf and wonderful weather
13. Tuscany (Italy)
14. Costa del Sol (Spain)
15. Australia and New Zealand
16. Florida (US)
17. Marrakech (Morocco)
18. St Kitts and Nevis (Carribean) - If you're not intimidated by self-build or the long haul this could be for you.
19. French Riviera
20. Dubai - Modern buildings and a booming market.

The presenters of the Channel 4 property programme "Location, Location, Location": Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer in their "Location" special "Where Best to Invest" reveal the ten best places to invest in Buy-to-Let property in the UK.

In the last 20 years the average return on property has been over 12% a year – more than any other asset. To be a success in property investment you have got to invest in the right place at the right time at the right price.

Phil and Kirstie have used six golden rules to identify the ten best locations to invest in buy-to-let property:

• Projected increase in younger population
• Local economy
• Planning permissions
• Restricted supply of property
• Bars, pubs and retail
• Universities

The ten best places to invest in buy-to-let property in the UK are: (Number 1 being the best place):

London is a special case being the third most expensive city in the World and its population will increase in size by the population of Leeds in ten years time.

The three best boroughs to invest in London are: (Number 1 being the best borough)

Last year's best locations (Number 1 being the best):

1. Limavady, Ulster (+28.3%)
2. Easington, East Yorkshire (+23.1%)
3. Fermanagh, County Londonderry (+22.6%)
4. Hyndburn, Lancashire (+22.2%)
5. Monmouthshire, Gwent (+21.3%)

Last year's worst locations (Number 1 being the worst):

1. Mid Sussex (-7.8%)
2. East Dorset (-7.7%)
3. Havant, Hampshire (-7.6%)
4. Daventry, Northamptonshire (-7.6%)
5. Poole, Dorset (-7.5%)

• Right Place
• Right Time
• Right Price

• The 15-25% deposit and stamp duty
• To make a rental property worthwhile it needs at least a 5% return
• You should be planning to hold onto your property for at least 5-10 years
• If you’re short of cash, think about going for a joint investment by splitting costs with other people.

• Projected increase in younger population.
• Local economy.
• Restricted supply of property (oversupply of property is bad news if you’re looking for a buy-to-let property).
• Check out the neighbours.
• Niche stores like organic food shops, newly opened coffee shops, delicatessens, boutiques and especially estate agents all suggest that there’s a good supply of wealthy patrons in the areas.
• Redevelopment schemes for a town centre.
• Sought-after building styles (Victorian terraces or well-proportioned 1930s semis).
• The ‘ripple effect’ (places on the boundaries of good areas often become desirable).
• Bear in mind what future buyers might want from an area (potential purchasers may want a gym or good retail outlets nearby).
• Pick an area with good schools (marked improvement in the performance of a school is a good sign, check performance tables to see how good schools are performing).
• Bars, pubs and retail (an area that attracts people with an increasing amount of disposable income, is an important factor when choosing where best to invest).
• Hospitals are big employers and bring a good supply of key workers to an area.
• Those who are in professional occupations and are aged 20–35 are the target market for any investor.
• Look out for any new developments and skips outside private homes, as they’re signs of new blood moving in. When investors or homeowners are spending significant sums of money renovating their properties, it suggests they have confidence in the local economy of an area.
• Check if there are universities in the area, giving you the option of future rental income, either for the whole property or just a room.
• Check out the nightlife.
• Investigate planned improvements on roads and new rail links.

• There are negative environmental issues (an area at risk of flooding, subsidence or pollution issues such as landfill sites).
• The street seems too noisy (lots of people, cars, or close proximity to a main road or railway line or factory are bad news).
• A rash of late licenses have been granted (the noise, disruption and mess are not great for the tone of the neighbourhood).
• Find out about planning applications, conservation areas, education facilities (you might discover that a petrol station is due to be built at the bottom of the road which will be bad news).

One in ten would-be homeowners are so desperate to get on the property ladder that they are taking on a second job to make it possible. "Two jobbers" are grafting for an extra 12 hours a week to fund their move. Others are working longer hours in their main job with nearly a quarter (23 per cent) clocking in for nine-and-a-half-hours of overtime per week.

Those who can't, or won't, work extra hours are cutting back on their spending. Fifty-five per cent are spending less going out to bars, clubs and restaurants and 26 per cent are cutting back on mobile phone bills, TV subscriptions and gym membership.

High house prices are making it so difficult for first time buyers to afford a property that many are having to resort to getting financial help from their parents in order to get onto the property ladder.

Fifty per cent of parents give their children a deposit to buy their first home, and many raid their savings, remortgage or put off retirement to do so.

In addition to paying deposits, nine per cent pay the other costs such as stamp duty, legal fees and surveys. And 14 per cent of first-time buyers are given furniture by their folks to set up house.

As house prices continue to rise families are having to help more to get the next generation on the property ladder.

The ways in which parents are helping are:

• 50% will give/gave deposit
• 24% withdrew money from their savings
• 17% help with payments
• 15% act as a guarantor
• 10% buy jointly
• 4% make changes to their lifestyle
• 3% remortgaged
• 1% retired later than planned

The number of millionaires in Britain will triple in the next decade as house prices continue to soar. Research published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) shows that a rise in the value of homeowners' properties has boosted the number of millionaires in the UK.

The CEBR estimates that by 2010, 760,000 people will be millionaires compared with 230,000 in 2001, with around 90 per cent of the increase down to rising house prices.

CEBR chief executive Douglas McWilliams said: "Millionaires will be ten a penny by 2010. I think we will no longer be able to class millionaires as rich people, they won't be that unusual anymore". He added that rising wealth would allow older people to finance spending on children, holidays, second homes or hobbies.

The CEBR found that the average homeowner retiring in 1990 had £62,055 of housing wealth, while somebody retiring in 2000 would have had £76,505. This is expected to rise to £161,113 by 2010 and £246,705 for a homeowner retiring in 2020. The report predicts that by 2020, there will be 1.9m millionaires in Britain.

I had a good look in the Estate Agents for South Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas today, seems like all the 2/3 bedroomed property is just flying off the shelf at the moment.

I asked a friend of mine who does lettings near Milton Keynes how things were going on the house sales side. She told me they had sold more houses so far this year than the whole of last year. She thought the reason was that people that held off last year, wondering if there would be a crash, had decided it was now ok to buy.

My friends have just been Gazumped. The property had been for sale over a year and now they have two buyers after it. The spring bounce is happening in my local area. Gazumping is just a sign that the Estate Agent has poorly valued the property - it should have been considerably higher. The way to stop gazumping is to market properties substantially higher, to thus restrict those that can afford the property, rather than having people fight over it and get into a bidding war.

Gazumping is back, means that there will be a step change of +10% very rapidly, if its not already happened. I now think price rises are going to be in double digits this year. We may even see decent rises this year of 6-8%.

Some people claim that the property market peaked in July 2004 but this is nonsense as the recent figures released by the Halifax show that house prices are still rising and rising strongly. Fred Harrison, a much respected doom-monger who correctly predicted the 1991/1992 recession, says that house prices will peak in 2007/2008 before entering a recession in 2010.

Some people claim that the best time to buy a property will be in 2010-2011 when the economy enters a recession. This is complete nonsense since the best time to buy property is not when the economy enters the next slump but when the economy emerges from the next slump and enters into another economic boom.

The current boom won't go bust until 2010/2011 and since the boom started in 1996 that means that it will have lasted fifteen years and so you can expect a fifteen year long recession starting in 2010/2011 before another economic boom occurs in 2025/2026.

The next housing boom won't begin until the next economic boom starts in 2025/2026 which means that people will have to wait twenty years before it becomes a good time to buy property just as the economy emerges from the next economic slump and enters another boom that causes house prices to rise.