Here perhaps is some real perspective on the current state of the property market in the US and - if you follow one logical line of argument - also by extension the UK property market.

The Wall Street Journal is currently featuring a piece about how bargain hunters in the States are starting to circle in some of the areas most badly hit by foreclosures.

Deals are there to be done and some are spectacular - 40% and more off asking prices.

And, while some buyers are hanging back in anticipation of even more mouth-watering deals, it seems many buyers simply can't resist the kind of prices on offer. There is evidence of bidding wars over distressed properties and one agent describes how the showings they conducted tripled in February over the same time last year.

Near the bottom?

So, does this indicate that we are near or are nearing the bottom in the US, simply because the bottom fishers are becoming active? Could be.

Now there's no doubt that the US property market has been hit far worse than the UK's - so far.

Not so, in Spain's case, however, where the property market is currently being hammered on a US scale. The Spanish press is talking of falls in home purchases on the secondary market of about 35%. Total lending to home-buyers fell almost 28 per cent to €13.4bn. Anyone looking at the costas is going to find a lot of choice. No evidence of bargain hunters gathering there yet. But they surely will at some point?

In terms of the UK market, we've seen lots of evidence of some minor price falls, mortgage lending falling and even the BoE's Mr King has said he will be 'surprised' if real UK property prices are much higher in a few years' time than they are now.

Putting aside our faith in Mr King, few would disagree with that, surely. He added that such an adjustment in real prices would be a good thing - surely few would disgree with that either. There is no suggestion though that the medium to long term outlook is anything but positive.

So, if we believe the UK market will go where first the US and now Spain are going (two markets like the UK that have seen huge property price growth fuelled by cheap credit), then we may, in the US at least, see some glimmer of perspective about the so-called 'meltdown' we keep hearing about.

Why?

Because what really leaps out of the WSJ piece are the numbers.

Meltdown

It's often the case that the extreme pockets of the market are where the focus ends up - the huge price falls. These are what lead to talk of a 'meltdown'.

But when you look behind the rhetoric, things are a little less dramatic. The most distressed state is Florida - home to THE most distressed area in the US in terms of property price falls - the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area in southwest Florida, according to RealtyTrac of Irvine, California.

This is THE worst place in the whole, vast US property market, with a record 3,739 properties in some stage of foreclosure, or one in 84 households - that's nearly seven times the national average.

Average sale prices for family homes in Lee County, which encompasses Fort Myers and Cape, are down 17%.

That's bad, but remember this is THE worst. So, is this the meltdown we've been hearing about?

And the rate of price fall across the nation, in which the property market is regularly described as being in freefall? An 8% fall.

When you factor in all those huge discounted deals of 40% and 50% and suchlike are wrapped up in that figure of 8% overall, this starts to put matters in perspective, surely?

If this is a meltdown, it's not as we know it!

What is also very significant is that once the lending blockage starts to ease - as it will at some point this year - we are going to see a huge amount of hoarded money (hoarded by banks) aimed at investment through credit lines, and a lot of this is almost certainly going to head into property markets that look like they offer real bargains.

Where to invest?

Where else will it go? 8% down - even 17% - compared to what equities have done in the last few years is reassuring.

Now, while it may not be time to dip a toe back in the water of the UK market yet, because things will almost certainly get worse before they start to get better, maybe, that worse isn't really going to be so bad after all - even if it is still likely we won't see much growth in the UK for the next two to three years.

So maybe now - while sentiment is depressed and yet fundamentals are basically the same as previously - is the time to look at those markets that will really benefit from the pick up in confidence?

Those economies with huge potential for growth and which have previously attracted huge amounts of FDI. Which for any smart property investor brings us back to selected markets in central and Eastern Europe...surely!