This is good news, as it would obviously be unhelpful if  8  BIS Review 37/2010  a speculative cycle were to emerge on the back of the recent strength in housing prices. This is an area that lenders and current and prospective home owners will need to watch carefully over the months ahead.
The final topic that I would like to touch on briefly is inflation. Here things have proceeded pretty much as expected. In underlying terms, inflation has moderated significantly, and the year-ended rate is expected to decline from its current rate of around 3¼ per cent to around 2½ per cent over the course of 2010.