Industry sources confirmed most of the big mortgage lenders were anticipating a “double dip” in house prices next year.

On Friday, Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society, said in its interim results that it expects prices to fall next year. Graeme Beale, Nationwide’s chief executive, said: “The growth in house prices over recent months appears to be driven by lack of supply, and growth in unemployment throughout 2010 will inevitably exert downward pressure.”

It’s not a consensus view as yet, as some people believe there’s room for a recovery in the property market.

However, danger signals still remain strong, and with the end of the stamp duty holiday on the horizon, downward pressures on UK property are expected to continue.

The good news is that with the worsening economy, the number of repossessed properties should become increasingly available, so volume should increase. The bad news is that with higher volume comes an inevitable fall in prices in the first place.

Troubled economies such as Lithuania, Estonia, and Iceland could prove very lucrative long-term investments for the current investor, plus up and coming areas such as Cyprus remain very much on the radar due to positive political developments there.

Emerging markets are also deserving consideration, especially South America. Brazil has been especially noted for investment opportunities in this powerful emerging economy. However, it is worth investors looking beyond traditional property and looking specifically at land, especially where there are real returns. Agricultural land for sale, especially in emerging economies, are certainly worth considering.

Nevertheless, it remains the case that global property markets remain subdued, and despite recent recoveries, these remain frail, so investors need to take extra precautions if looking to buy at the present time – however, the canny investor will already be researching countries now, to take full advantage of individual opportunities as and when they come up.

If nothing else, one of the big perks of investing overseas is having to take repeated holidays abroad.