As promised, the Rat and Mouse's collation of 2006 house price predictions:

John Charcol 5.5%
Knight Frank 5%
RICS 4%
Halifax 3%
Nationwide 3%
Hometrack 1%

Savills 0%

PropertyFinder.com -0.3%
Capital Economics -5%

There are more. You can find lofty predictions made by estate agents before Brown's SIPPs U-turn. And, over at HousePriceCrash, you can find headline-grabbing crash predictions, but none of them are specific to 2006. The nine above seem to us to be the most important. RICS gains credibility with its spot-on 3% prediction for 2005. Its 2006 prediction is based on increased sales. Meanwhile, it's the FTB problem that worries Capital Economics, with house prices still far ahead of wages. Savills' 0% forecast hides a 5% prediction for prime central London property - which gets good press everywhere. The Rat and Mouse feels a lot depends on interest rates - and it's the eventual the trade-off between recent talk of cuts and lenders' newfound caution over British debt-levels that's going to shape 2006 house prices. As more predictions come in, we'll update the list and link to it.

So... that's enough of that. And it's time for me and my techie buddy Henry to wish you all a very happy bank holiday. Please keep visiting us in 2006 - remember to write to us with tips, arguments, complaints, theories, pics, gossip and stories. And let us know what you'd like to see on the Rat and Mouse. Polls? A forum? Comments? Your opinions matter to us.

Happy New Year!