Escalating property prices have been a staple of dinner party conversation for years. But in the last year, they have been replaced by a new topic: falling property prices.
There is no doubt that many people made a lot of money out of property in the last 10 to 15 years, while many others in their 20s and 30s have seen their dream of home ownership slip away.
But we all knew the bubble that was getting ever more inflated, couldn't last forever and would eventually burst.
Burst it did, around autumn last year - and we have been on an economic downward spiral since then.
Now we are seeing people struggle with sudden increases in their mortgage payments, while repossessions have risen to a predicted 45,000 this year (already up 71%).
