In SA, too, the household debt to disposable income ratio has made little downward progress, due to incomes being under huge pressure, making debt ratio reduction slow going. A mediocre global economic expectation, and a local household sector that cannot be expected to spend the economy to far greater heights, implies a fairly moderate economic growth expectation of around only two percent next year, which would not be a huge stimulus to the market.

Realistically, therefore, while we expect to see a move back to house price inflation as 2010 approaches, the expectation is that average price inflation for next year will be moderate at around 5 percent for the year, and that late in 2010 we may well see the market 'flattening out' somewhat as the interest rate stimulus wears thin. It promises, thus, to be a 'short and moderate' cycle.

Click on these links for property analyses by FNB:

• Analysing CT property

• Analysing Jozi property

• Analysing Durban property

• Analysing PTA property