As Mr Mason points out, there is no industry standard for modifying terms and it is not clear how well it will work, particularly at a time when house prices are falling.

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Indeed, as in Britain, the rise in house prices has contributed significantly to the strength of consumer spending, particularly on furnishings and the like.

ECONOMIST: Jumping but jumpy | The

In just a few chapters, he outlines the forces that brought the world to the brink of a bust: a house-price bubble boosted by runaway mortgage lending in the rich world, particularly America, a lightly regulated global financial system that found ever-more creative ways to speculate on rising house prices, and macroeconomic policymaking that was far too laid back about the dangers posed by asset-price bubbles.

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