Telegraph: House prices double in a decade but there is trouble ahead

House prices doubled during the last decade - even after recent falls and the illusory uplift of inflation are taken into account, according to new research by the mortgage giant Halifax. But homebuyers should not break out the champagne just yet because several warning signs suggest there is trouble ahead.
Most middle class families, where wage earners have hung onto their jobs, may feel the credit crisis has been something of a phoney recession – so far. Paradoxically, the recovery could prove much more painful.
Quite unlike the housing slump of 1990 – when a thousand homes a week were repossessed – interest rates have remained low and most people have plenty of cash in their pockets. Unfortunately, that is already changing for the worse.