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Most of us think we have spent a decade buying into an unrealistic property dream, a BBC Panorama poll suggests.
Some 79% of 1,000 people asked said the UK as a whole had been unrealistic about the affordability of housing.
But 37% said they would still stretch themselves financially for property. Housing expert Steve Wilcox said many forget "prices go down as well".
The survey comes amid a housing market which has seen prices fall by 2.5% in the last month.
This is the first sustained fall in 10 years. At the same time, the supply of mortgages is drying up. The collapse of the sub-prime market has seen a 40% fall in lending over the last year.
'Loss of memory'
Some 59% of those surveyed felt the credit crunch was making people more realistic about what they could afford.
Despite this, the poll revealed that there was still a large group of people ignoring the economic downturn - the 37% who said they would still stretch themselves for a home.
People are so focused on wanting the dream home that they assume that if the expert is giving them the mortgage that means they must be able to afford it 
Suman Antcliffe
Debt counsellor
Professor Wilcox told Panorama: "It's almost like we've had a collective loss of memory.
"A lot of people have invested in the market over the last 10 years because of the way they've seen it going up, and sort of assumed it is going to keep on going up like that.
"Prices go down as well."
That changes are having an impact, however.
It is predicted 45,000 people will have their homes repossessed this year - a rise of 17% in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.
Yet the Panorama survey suggested 10% of those questioned had not studied their mortgage documents carefully before signing them.
Price crash fears
Debbie March, from Hinckley in Leicestershire, bought her home three years ago.
She said she wished she had paid more attention.
If we don't do something soon it's going to get to the stage where if the prices do crash we won't have enough to sell to pay the mortgage off
Homeowner Debbie March
Her only route to a mortgage was through a sub-prime lender with higher interest rates. But the payments now dominate her life and she is struggling to cope financially. "You don't get a lot of sleep sometimes", she said.
"It's a real worry. If we don't do something soon it's going to get to the stage where if the prices do crash we won't have enough to sell to pay the mortgage off."
Suman Antcliffe, a debt counsellor with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), said too many people saw only the property ladder and did not pay attention to the price.
She said: "I think people are so focused on wanting the dream home that they assume that if the expert is giving them the mortgage that means they must be able to afford it.
"And that's the problem, we rely too much on banks and lenders."
Anxious lenders
Meanwhile, county court judge Stephen Gold, who decides whether people are evicted or not, said a tighter market meant lenders got nervous.
The real problem, he said, was a phenomenon he referred to as the "comfort zone".
"That's the difference between the market value of the mortgaged property and what it would take to pay off the mortgage," he said.
"As property values decrease that comfort zone shrinks, and the more it shrinks the more anxious lenders become."
The Panorama survey suggested a split of opinion over falling house prices.
Some 52% of those questioned said they wanted prices to keep going down.
But the opinion of homeowners differed. The majority - 81% - said they want prices to keep rising, in order to keep earning them money.
However, when people were asked what they thought would happen in the coming year the general view was clearer.
Some 15% still thought house prices would rise. But 78% believed they would either stay the same, or the ongoing fall would continue.
ICM Research surveyed 1,011 adults across the UK by phone on 28-29 May.
Panorama: Property - High Anxiety will be broadcast at 2030 on BBC1, Monday 2 June.
Some 79% of 1,000 people asked said the UK as a whole had been unrealistic about the affordability of housing.
But 37% said they would still stretch themselves financially for property. Housing expert Steve Wilcox said many forget "prices go down as well".
The survey comes amid a housing market which has seen prices fall by 2.5% in the last month.
This is the first sustained fall in 10 years. At the same time, the supply of mortgages is drying up. The collapse of the sub-prime market has seen a 40% fall in lending over the last year.
'Loss of memory'
Some 59% of those surveyed felt the credit crunch was making people more realistic about what they could afford.
Despite this, the poll revealed that there was still a large group of people ignoring the economic downturn - the 37% who said they would still stretch themselves for a home.
People are so focused on wanting the dream home that they assume that if the expert is giving them the mortgage that means they must be able to afford it Suman Antcliffe
Debt counsellor
Professor Wilcox told Panorama: "It's almost like we've had a collective loss of memory.
"A lot of people have invested in the market over the last 10 years because of the way they've seen it going up, and sort of assumed it is going to keep on going up like that.
"Prices go down as well."
That changes are having an impact, however.
It is predicted 45,000 people will have their homes repossessed this year - a rise of 17% in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.
Yet the Panorama survey suggested 10% of those questioned had not studied their mortgage documents carefully before signing them.
Price crash fears
Debbie March, from Hinckley in Leicestershire, bought her home three years ago.
She said she wished she had paid more attention.
If we don't do something soon it's going to get to the stage where if the prices do crash we won't have enough to sell to pay the mortgage off Homeowner Debbie March
Her only route to a mortgage was through a sub-prime lender with higher interest rates. But the payments now dominate her life and she is struggling to cope financially. "You don't get a lot of sleep sometimes", she said.
"It's a real worry. If we don't do something soon it's going to get to the stage where if the prices do crash we won't have enough to sell to pay the mortgage off."
Suman Antcliffe, a debt counsellor with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), said too many people saw only the property ladder and did not pay attention to the price.
She said: "I think people are so focused on wanting the dream home that they assume that if the expert is giving them the mortgage that means they must be able to afford it.
"And that's the problem, we rely too much on banks and lenders."
Anxious lenders
Meanwhile, county court judge Stephen Gold, who decides whether people are evicted or not, said a tighter market meant lenders got nervous.
The real problem, he said, was a phenomenon he referred to as the "comfort zone".
"That's the difference between the market value of the mortgaged property and what it would take to pay off the mortgage," he said.
"As property values decrease that comfort zone shrinks, and the more it shrinks the more anxious lenders become."
The Panorama survey suggested a split of opinion over falling house prices.
Some 52% of those questioned said they wanted prices to keep going down.
But the opinion of homeowners differed. The majority - 81% - said they want prices to keep rising, in order to keep earning them money.
However, when people were asked what they thought would happen in the coming year the general view was clearer.
Some 15% still thought house prices would rise. But 78% believed they would either stay the same, or the ongoing fall would continue.
ICM Research surveyed 1,011 adults across the UK by phone on 28-29 May.
Panorama: Property - High Anxiety will be broadcast at 2030 on BBC1, Monday 2 June.
