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Here's a question I'm not sure of the answer to: Why have house prices increased so much in recent years?

In previous Blogs I have commented on the Mexican stand-off between vendors and purchasers when it comes to house sales. It's clear both groups have had quite different ideas of what a property is worth and for a while never the twain shall meet. I'm wondering now whether there is a similar sort of stand-off between the so-called experts and the people on the ground.

This week has been a week of conflicting statistics on what is happening in the residential property market. QV reported that house prices had fallen for the first time in seven years, while REINZ, as it is wont to do, painted a much more positive picture later in the week.

The housing market tends to go into a boom and bust cycle. While it's looking a bit sad at the moment, expect it to come back again. If you believe the Reserve Bank governor then it's all the fault of politicians.

I read, this week, with interest the comments of fellow Yahoo!Xtra Blogger David McEwen on how property investors can handle the current real estate market.