While 2023 is bringing a lot of bad news for a lot of people around the world, it’s possible to imagine some potential upsides. We should, for example, begin to see house prices plateau as interest rates rise and bank lending contracts.

In fact, most observers agree that house prices are going to fall throughout 2023, perhaps by as much as 25 percent when accounting for inflation. Some are warning that rising interest rates could lead to a 1980s-style housing crash.

While a housing crash would make the coming recession much worse, it’s still a fairly unlikely scenario. But a steady leveling off of house prices alongside rising incomes could help many young people to get on the housing ladder.