The latest figures are particularly disheartening to many first-time buyers looking to take advantage of the still constant 0.5% low interest rates offered by the central banks for lending institutions to base their loans on, with many individuals deciding to put off starting a family until they can afford a home of their own. In fact, recent studies have shown that roughly 33% of men and 20% of women aged 20 to 34 still live with their parents, with the average age for purchasing a home for he first time now rising to an impressive (and scary, for some) 37 years old.

This recent stalling in the market is having a negative impact upon the commercial real estate industry as well, as fewer and fewer investors are willing to put their money into a field that is at high risk of crashing in the near rather than far future. This, when coupled with the fact that real estate development is responsible for creating a large number of jobs throughout the country (with the average development creating 1.5 full-time positions and four times that amount throughout the supply chain to support building construction) many businesses are worried about a wide-spread economic failure affecting all of the UK as a whole – not simply the housing industry.

Falling house prices are a major concern for all consumers in recent months as economists warn of a second property crash potentially on the way in the near future. Nationwide’s latest figures confirm this as well, with the national average of house prices falling by roughly 0.9% over the past month and more expected to be seen on the way as 2010 progresses into the traditionally slow property months of winter.

While for many first-time buyers that have been edged out of the market due to the substantially increasing house prices throughout the country this may be good news for the economy as a whole it bodes ill for many people. This is especially true with mortgage lending being stuck at one of the most difficult times ever to acquire due to rampant unemployment affecting all regions and poor credit worthiness brought on by the credit crisis limiting the purchasing power and credibility of all but the strongest consumers.

Nevertheless should a double-dip in the property market occur there is little that any central banking body can do to assist this time around. With interest rates still locked at the historically low 0.5% little room is left for a central rate adjustment, and as the property market continues to teeter on the edge of collapse even many overseas investments in various residential and commercial developments have begun to wane. This is leaving many local property holders stuck with many property locations that may end up bringing them significantly greater debt than credit and leave them with the sole responsibility to cover their finances should a major financial loss occur.

Economists and professional lending institutions are still looking into various options on how to soften the blow should another major dip occur, however at this time concerns are remaining high and less-than-optimistic as the year comes to an end and property markets are beginning to be well outpaced in terms of supply verses demand.

While it is true that even the prime property market can suffer its own ups and downs throughout each year pursuant of whatever supply and demand issues may be at play the fact remains that London is seen by many of the world’s elite as "the" place for seeking out higher education, developing international connections and even establishing many business centres no matter what their personal background may be. This has caused the prime property market in many areas throughout London to remain highly valued by many people, working to keep costs associated with the highest standards of living from dropping or even facing the same fears that many other sectors face on a regular basis.

International interest in prime real estate is holding true both for residential and commercial developments in key property areas as well, meaning that developers and property holders in these areas are resting better assured now than they have been in past years where even developments such as Canary Wharf were facing financial difficulties due to financial strife affecting companies in those areas. One area that is expected to still face difficulties are those properties whose value is rated at over £10 million, however, as these have shown regular discounts in the range of 10% to 15% in order to encourage additional purchasing during stagnant market periods.

The commercial development zone of the Thurrock Thames Gateway was originally facing a large number of issues in the early part of the turn of the century due to waning interest by many groups in establishing ongoing commercial investments in the area – the same troubles that faced Canary Wharf in that time as well. In order to stem off any potential negative impacts this may have and encourage additional investment from both domestic and overseas interests the Development Corporation for the area was established.

Over the past seven years the Development Corporation has done substantial work in helping to spur on the development of the Thurrock Thames Gateway and the previous efforts have helped stem off any move to dissolve the corporation for the time being. The Communities and Local Government spokespeople have said, however, that both the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation and its sister group, the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, are being put under review for the time being and an official announcement over whether or not both development corporations will remain independent bodies in the coming years or if they will be dissolved as was originally planned.

Unfortunately for many people the long-term instability of many regions means that their investments may, in the end, cost much more than they possibly could have made otherwise due to the fact they are looking more at short-term returns rather than long-term potential. With this in mind most investors are cautioned to enter into any real estate market now, be it buy-to-let, standard property or even commercial property, with a ten-year perspective in mind in terms of long-term profit and sustainability rather than hoping for a two-year quick turn-around of whatever investment they may make.

The primary reason for this caution being expressed in many areas as a large number of property markets are currently being flooded with a number of sellers looking to take advantage of their property’s current high market value while they still can, quickly outpacing buyers in many areas. This is a reversal of earlier trends where a housing shortage in most areas helped to drive up prices, thus causing the boom to establish itself even in many locations that would not see any substantial growth in property value otherwise. Bearing this in mind investors should do their homework thoroughly before investing in any of these areas that has experienced an unexpected boom as the economy may very well turn around and work against them in the near future if things do not continue down an ideal path in the months to come.

This increase in costs is seen by many as being expected in many cases, coming as the result of an entire generation needing to turn to their parents to cover various costs associated with modern living outside of the housing market as well such as education costs, general living expenses when faced with hard times and even unexpected unemployment coming their way (such as what faced many individuals in recent years due to the widespread economic recession across the globe). This has left many parents in a financial deficit that they must now call in funds from their children to help repay.

The majority of funds received by parents are typically not going to most other expenses in their lives, however, according to recent surveys on financial spending trends. In fact the majority of funds tend to be shifted away from additional expenditures and more towards paying off existing debt, as fewer and fewer households later on in life wish to deal with the additional burden a re-mortgage may have to offer even with the continued low mortgage rates set out by banks and instead simply prefer to eliminate their existing debts through other means.

As the housing market continues to require significantly higher costs associated with entering into it than typically seen in previous years these figures are expected to continue to rise, and without some sort of correction many economists are concerned about what the future may hold in terms of financial support for the current generation when their time of need comes.

This has regularly been a trend for some time in London as the capital city has long been an area of prime interest for non-domestic purchases, much to the chagrin of local first-time buyers wishing to get into the property market without needing to leave the city to do so. This has been true for a number of areas around the world in terms of showing interest in UK property, with Europeans in particular showing top interest in times where the Euro is especially strong.

Whenever the Euro shows signs of cooling off, however, it is not the European market that is seen as the prime overseas consumer within the UK but other countries that traditionally have had their currency pegged to the US Dollar that are primary active members in the local economy – namely Russia, India and China. These three all show regular strong purchasing power and presence within the local real estate market for London and other parts of the UK irrespective of the Euro’s current strength due to their stronger connection to the North American markets and their economic standings.

Many experts have attributed the recent shift towards seaside living as a move for many individuals to see a lifestyle change in their own life rather than an actual investment or first-time purchase, with many individuals and couples deciding to sell their more inland homes to shift their living environment entirely to the seaside setting. This has been a particularly popular choice as of late as many individuals are looking to take advantage of the higher cost of their homes in more urban settings to fund the purchase of a traditionally higher priced seaside area.

Another major factor driving many people to make the move now rather than later lies in the fact that the continued low mortgage rates offered by many lending establishments thanks to the Bank of England’s continued record low interest rate means that they can successfully lock in a lower fixed-rate mortgage now than they may ever be able to realize in the future, effectively making this the prime time for all real estate owners to make their ideal dream home become a reality and finally move to the place they have always wanted to.

For those looking to move to the coastal regions it should be noted, however, that even though the cost of homes in those areas is traditionally much higher than in other areas they are still affected by the same supply and demand factors that affect other regions and coastal homes have seen neither significant increases nor decreases in value as of late in the market.

This news has boded well for many investors looking to continue activity in many areas, though at the same time a large number of property holders have maintained strong aversion to pushing forward with further investments in many areas in the East where prices have been seeing regular declines in recent months. These trends are seen to be driven particularly strongly by a number of domestic and international interests alike, with places such as London seeing a strong overseas property interest in addition to strong support in the commercial sector.

The property decline is not seen as all bad news for everyone, though. In fact the lowing of house prices in many areas has opened up many purchasing potential for buyers that may have been shut out of previous opportunities due to high prices in the past, with continued low mortgage rates meaning that buyers can finally take full advantage of options on the market they may not have had the chance to realize otherwise. While this still may not be the case in many Western areas the recent decline in prices in the East coupled with the growing number of properties on the market outpacing the number of buyers in those areas is boding well for many prospective purchasers, meaning that property crash or not it may end up being good news overall for a large number of people.

For many developers around the country their hopes are that this proposal, should it go through, will grant significantly greater development potential for many areas and allow for a higher level of autonomy in many respects. This, combined with the continued low interest rates offered on many home loans – including both fixed-rate and tracker mortgages – will work to stimulate many local area developments and provide support for both existing home owners and first-time buyers alike.

This move is seen as potentially allowing villages and other housing areas to grow and evolve more along the lines of previous development trends, allowing for housing areas to evolve on par with those seen in previous years in order to allow local developments to grow and shift according to local demand.

Many opponents do feel that this may lead to excess development in some areas that may damage the overall image of some villages, yet at the same time concerns over long-term residential sustainability are strong and outweighing the costs these may pose at this time. This is particularly true in recent days where economists are expressing great concern over actual growth patterns and showing some concern over a potential recession in terms of real estate occurring in the coming months as the shift moves more away from home purchasing and towards rental living conditions instead.