With property prices tumbling amid the current real estate crisis, home ownership is once again becoming a reality for thousands of Americans who were previously priced out of the real estate market. But as prospective home owners start to shop around, in an era of high energy prices many are finding gold in green - and homebuilders are responding by implementing environmentally-friendly building practices that can save homeowners thousands of dollars a year in heating and electricity bills.

Wall Streets woes are having a hard impact on US commercial real estate sectors, where activity is slowing rapidly in response to tightening credit and slow economic growth, according to the latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook report by the National Association of Realtors.

The risk of abrupt changes in government real estate policies remain the biggest threat to the credit worthiness of China's property sector in spite of the strong growth in Chinese home values in recent years.

Video showing the roller coaster ride in house prices US homeowners have experienced since 1890 - unsurprisingly the biggest climb occurred from 1997 onwards. The question is will it be followed by the biggest fall?