They've gone up here consistently in the UK the last 10 years, so much that I would describe it as a bubble. The credit crunch has started to deflate it. They have gone absolutely absurd and nobody can afford anything any more. The not particularly nice 2-bedroom semi I was living in in Tottenham in late 2006 sold for £313,000 in October! (It had been bought for £100,000 in January 2000). Lunacy!