Morgan Stanley's David Miles knows how to grab headlines, but he also took a lonely stance when, last week, and to the delight of the media, he forecast an imminent house price crash. Now, Jonathan Said, of The Centre for Economics and Business Research, replies with a simple rebuttal:

The United Kingdom does not have a large enough stock of houses.

According to Said, a combination of population growth and planning restrictions will continue to ensure that demand outpaces supply and... well, we all know what happens then. Said expected house prices inflation to slow from 8.2% this year, to 4.5% in 2007 and 1.3% in 2008, before picking up again. Of course, house price inflation is local... in London, who knows?

[via About Property]