The National Association of estate agents (NAEA) has predicted that underlying strengths will help the housing market through a difficult patch next year. House prices will remain static overall in 2008, according to the NAEA, although London and the south-east will continue to show strong growth, whereas poorer regions will see prices stall and in some cases even decrease. The organisation admitted that recent events such as the credit crunch, the crisis at Northern Rock and the launch of home information packs had all destabilised the market, while there is still great uncertainty over what their future impacts will be.