Are House Price Falls Bad News?

“Evan, EVAN, could I just finish answering the question if that’s ok….”

Housing Minister Caroline Flint was on a hiding to nothing this morning as she tried to avoid questions about the Government’s housing policy and the likelihood of actually building 3m new homes by 2020.

She was, however, given a bit of a mauling by Evan Davis (presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme), not least when he asked if house price falls were a Good Thing.

Full marks there for a devilishly clever question – though Flint, spotting the danger, knew she’d be damned if she said yes and damned if she said no.

So in time-honoured politico fashion she pretended she’d been asked a completely different question.

But what answer would you give? Are price falls a bad thing, and if not, what’s positive about the current situation?

You can hear the interview on the BBC (if you want to cut to the chase, she comes in at 4:18 mins):

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