The current key word in the property market is “divide”; it rules as a way of describing the conditions in a housing market where recovery has arrived in some places but has taken a detour on the way to others and some homes remain unsold, while others are snapped up within days.

There is the top end-low end divide. This is the differing performance between expensive properties, such as detached houses, whose values are reviving fast, and homes in the lowest price bracket where prices fell back in July. The mind-the-gap lexicon also includes the North-South divide, the disconnect between the upbeat tone in London and the gloom in parts of Yorkshire and Humberside.

Some commentators, however, lean more to another geographic split, the East-West divide. This highlights the differing fortunes of properties in East Anglia and the South East where there is little for sale and those in some areas of the North West, Wales and Cornwall where there is too much.

But another divide is also becoming discernible — the poll-professional divide. The leading surveys all indicate that average prices are heading upwards. The mood among many estate agents and economists, however, is in some contrast to the cheerful figures. None of these professionals doubts the data, but they are wary of the hoopla that has greeted the price increases. As we report on page 4, the professionals question whether the summer ’09 bounceback — which has been driven by cash-rich buyers chasing the few homes available in London and the South East — can be sustained if more owners decide that autumn ’09 is the optimum time to sell.

The professionals concede that home loans are more plentiful. But they point out that the banks are still being picky about mortgage applications. There may now be special swiftly-approved finance deals for Premier League footballers under which a deposit of only 5 per cent is required for the purchase of a pad with plenty of room to park the Bentleys. But the latest Council of Mortgage Lenders figures show the average person moving home has a deposit of 30 per cent.

It is this factor that could deter many owners from putting their homes on to the market in the autumn. They have neither the spare money nor the equity that lenders demand; fear of unemployment will also suppress the desire to relocate. For most households, it seems set to be another autumn of staying put, but with some consolations. Their home is no longer losing value and may even be appreciating. Meanwhile, those estate agents that have survived the downturn seem to be sober-minded people, disinclined to succumb to the irrational exuberance that brought about the boom and bust.

Expensive outlook

What price a nice view? This question has become one of the debates of the summer since the disclosure that the Government could be preparing to impose higher council tax charges on properties that looked out over something easy on the eye. County Homesearch, a firm of homefinders, has found figures to support the view that we are prepared to pay a lot for a pleasant aspect, especially one of the sea. A five-bedroom house in Tenby, from where you can see Carmarthen Bay, typically fetches £895,000. Without this extra, the typical price is £285,000. This disparity explains why the Treasury calculates that the owners of homes with nice views could afford to pay more tax.

Cut out and keep

Another theme of the summer has been the fantastical wardrobe. Last month we showed you the Tord Boontje wardrobe, made from 616 hand-painted copper leaves and on display at the Victoria & Albert. This week’s eye-catching furniture, designed by Giles Miller, is more affordable — for it is made of eco-friendly stout cardboard. The wardrobe, pictured, costs just £180.

It would be easy to conclude from these pieces that designers had retreated to some kind of Narnia. However, the innovation of this particular wardrobe suggests that designers have the ingenuity necessary to evolve the furniture needed for the many new homes in the UK that, as was revealed this week, have insufficient storage, or any other sort of space.

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