HOUSE prices are hotting up. Or cooling down. It depends which temperature gauge you prefer.

The Land Registry's quarterly survey suggests property price rises in Yorkshire have dropped to lower than the national average. Estate agents say the opposite: increases are well into double figures.

So who to believe? The Land Registry has the advantage of basing its figures on hard facts: completions of house deals. Estate agents, meanwhile, have a vested interest in talking up the market.

Yet estate agents are the people on the ground. And their information is bang up to date.

On one thing both parties agree: house prices are still going up. Unfortunately, that only leads to further confusion. Is this good news, or not?

Generally, it must be welcomed. Price rises are a sign of a confident local economy. Home-owners enjoy a warm feeling inside each time they mentally recalculate the value of their property.

Those yet to get a foot on the owners' ladder react very differently, of course. Many potential first-time buyers are watching prices disappear beyond their reach. The property bandwagon has sped off, leaving them dejectedly to face the prospect of renting forever, or moving to an area they can afford but do not like.

There is another concern about today's housing market. York estate agent Peter Moody says some house-owners are asking "silly money" for their properties. And mortgage lenders are "throwing money at house buyers".

The figures back him up. The major British banks saw mortgage lending increase by £7.79 billion in April, nearly a third higher than the same time last year.

Spiralling house prices and mortgage loans inevitably prompt memories of the Nineties slump. In those days, thousands of families had their homes repossessed and many more were trapped by negative equity.

No one wants a repeat of that misery. We must hope that Mr Moody is right and that the property market will enjoy a gentle landing rather than a crash.

Updated: 10:49 Wednesday, May 30, 2001