The book contains intriguing findings about house prices, using authoritative data on trends and details including a century-long index of UK house prices, an analysis of the value of the White House and a fascinating four-hundred-year story of houses in Amsterdam.

There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know  Harry S Truman

To what extent are we right to view our houses as an investment as well as a home? If prices can rise for decades and then fall for more than a whole generation, then what does the future hold? If prices rise further, will houses become unaffordable for many young people? How will that affect our society? If they crash, will that endanger our banks once more? Are politicians, policymakers and regulators prepared for the true range of possibilities?

Anybody who owns a house, wants to own a house or follows the prices and economics of housing will find this book an accessible, fascinating and door-opening read.

This book is published by London Publishing Partnership, and this site provides links to key data and sources.