The bubble has burst on the Great British assumption that our home is our safest investment. After more than a year of falling prices, Kate Silverton and Justin Rowlatt present Propertywatch, a four-part series that takes the temperature of the housing market in the UK today. From a converted mill building in central Manchester, Kate and Justin track the latest statistics and sort out property fact from fiction. Experts and guests join them to add their insight, expertise and strong views about the housing market.

Andrew Verity and Naga Munchetty go on the road to reveal how the changing tides of the property market around the UK are affecting our lives and our obsession with bricks and mortar. The team also meet the winners and losers of the property price rollercoaster and hear from people who have found ingenious ways to get the best out of the frozen market.

As recovery is all about consumer confidence, Propertywatch also gauges the mood of the nation in a series of interactive online mood maps, which will gather and display comments showing how people feel about the property market across the country. In addition, the online content available at bbc.co.uk/propertywatch provides quizzes, features, an interactive Land Registry map tracking price falls and stories exclusive to the web.

The first programme, Are We Near The Bottom Yet?, asks how much further the market will fall and looks at when recovery is likely. It also looks at the impact of the current uncertainty for buyers and sellers. While Kate and Justin test the latest statistics for signs of green shoots, Andrew and Naga meet people with very different hopes for the housing market.

Alison from Oxfordshire is delighted by the fall in prices as she can now afford the home of her dreams. Sara from Watford, meanwhile, has cancelled her wedding because she and her fiancé can’t afford to live together until they’ve sold their flats. The programme also introduces two potential first-time buyers, whose attempts to get on the property ladder are charted throughout the series.