Era of soaring house prices is ending as central banks raise rates | Larry Elliott

Policies are tightening when major economies are either falling into recession or heading that way

It's over. An era of ever-rising house prices stimulated by cheap money is coming to an end. Central banks created a colossal real estate boom and soon they will have to cope with the consequences of the bubble being pricked.

In China it is already happening. Banks in the world's second biggest economy are under orders to bail out property developers so they can complete unfinished projects. Mortgage boycotts are on the rise because people are, unsurprisingly, unhappy about paying home loans for properties they are unable to occupy.