WHETHER or not we should be gloomy about the housing market depends on who you listen to.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors paints a pessimistic picture with its report forecasting a drop in prices caused by more properties on the market and fewer buyers.

But estate agents in Oxford we spoke to yesterday were far more bullish.

Of course, the agents may, justifiably, be serving their clients’ interests by talking up the market.

However all agree that September will be a crucial month.

It is only then, a traditionally busy time for buying and selling after the holidays, that true comparison and analysis can happen.

A few months ago there were some encouraging signs of a property market on the way back, although some of that heat has cooled.

Hopefully, though, we are not on the verge of the long term decline in property values that some doomsayers have predicted.

That would be good news for those hoping to get onto the ladder.

But it would be a disaster for millions who bought into the home-owning dream when banks and building societies were falling over themselves to lend them the cash.