Simon Gunner, branch partner at Allan and Harris, College Court, Swindon.

In terms of true value, we are having to reduce prices slightly. It's not the 10 to 20 percent that everybody seems to be talking about, but if you want to sell your house now, there is probably a five per cent shift.

And it's all down to supply and demand. There are now more houses becoming available, because a lot of people who have bought property as an investment over the last four or five years are selling on.

When you look at the economy, the unemployment rate, the cost of borrowing and that's the critical one then no, I don't think prices are about to collapse by 30 or 40 per cent.

I think we've moved on to a different plane from those dark days of the late eighties, and I don't think anyone's worried about negative equity.

The future looks good for Swindon, but we've just got to be a little more realistic, and vendors must appreciate that what they've gained over the last four years is immense.