We know that residential property prices in China have been dropping since October, down an annualised 5.7 per cent in the year to February 2014. Estate agent Knight Frank's global house price index saw its first quarterly decline since Q3 2012, down 0.6 per cent in Q4 2014.
Could the US succumb too? Sparking memories of subprime, repossessions, and bad debts on banks' balance sheets, facing the facts might be difficult for many. While housing activity has certainly picked up from the record lows of 2009, progress, like pulling out from the depression generally, has been painfully slow.