my mate just called seeking urgent advice, page-33

That's the problem with the nation wide preoccupation with property investment where every man and his dog looks at it as a one way bet. Risks (huge amount of debt) have been taken on because of the perceived sure-thing capital gain where the government can always step in the save the market from collapse.

That's the most dangerous scenario as the masses as a whole cannot see the risks driving the entire market up in a big swell. It all felt so good cruising along before reaching that crest beyond which lies the edge of the cliff.

On the way down, the plunge will be in the higher order of magnitude (as it will be compressed witin a much short space of time).

There are plenty of housing crashes around the world that shows that pattern. A gradually rising curve over a number of years leading to a sharp spike before the tipping point followed by a brief period of gradual decline just before the steep plunge where the curve falls exponentially (NOT linear).