Despite the continued recovery in the housing marketing, house prices are expected to be lower in 2015 than they were in 2007 in real terms. To put it simply, house price rises are not expected to reach the rates of inflation.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, there is a 70 per cent chance that property value in 2015 is below that of 2007 in real timers. On top of that, there is a 50 per cent chance that property value in 2020 will still be below the value in 2007 in real terms.

John Hawksworth, head of macroeconomics at PwC, said: “The possibility of a renewed fall in house prices over the next few years cannot be ruled out as mortgage interest rates start to rise again.”

Halifax figures have shown that average house prices have fallen in each of the past three months. The gloom continued with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) revealing that sellers are now outnumbering home buyers. A shortage of sellers helped kick-start a the recovery of the market last year.

Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight said: “House prices are likely to be erratic over the coming months and will probably be only flat over the rest of 2010. It is hard at this stage to be optimistic about prices in 2011, as the fiscal squeeze will kick in, which will hit people’s pockets and lead to job losses in the public sector.”

In short, the current property market may not be more healthy than it is now for some time to come.