Yesterday there was some panicky story or other in one of the London free commuter newspapers. Roughly, the average price of a property in England (don't ask how that average is computed for all properties in all of England...) was about £180k and now that lenders are requiring 40% down for a mortgage, the average (don't ask) borrower would need to save up "two years' take-home pay". So we're talking about an "average" property value of 5 years' take-home pay for the average borrower. Ouch.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith