The less we know about what lies ahead, the more important it is to get the right debt advice, so we can take action - and be as prepared as we can be.
In December, the Halifax and the Nationwide (two of the UK's largest mortgage lenders) shocked quite a few people when they announced they would not be publishing their house price forecasts.
While the Halifax said it was 'not appropriate' to comment due to the upcoming takeover by Lloyds TSB, the Nationwide simply said it was too difficult.
After all, with so many factors up in the air, there's little difference between a prediction and a guess.
No-one knows what's going to happen to lenders, in terms of wholesale funding costs, government legislation, debt write-offs, etc.
, and that means we don't know whether the availability and cost of mortgages will improve or deteriorate.
That, in turn, will influence the number of would-be homeowners who can buy a property.
It'll also affect the number of mortgagors who'll be unable to keep up with their mortgage payments (as will the unemployment rate, inflation, pay levels and the overall state of the economy).
The more repossessions there are, the greater the 'downward pressure' on prices we're likely to see.
And the more house prices come down, the less each bank will be able to recoup by selling the ones it is forced to repossess.
Making it even more complicated, this isn't a linear equation - if the cost of mortgages goes up, for example, more people will find they can no longer afford to be a homeowner, reducing demand for housing at the same time as increasing the number of homes on the market.
So in many ways, it's a 'vicious circle', with problems in one area affecting other areas on which it (in turn) depends.
On top of all this, each piece of negative news can be perceived as being better or worse than it actually is, depending on how the public perceives it.
House prices are famously dependent on 'market sentiment', so a feeling of doom and gloom can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Perhaps that's one reason the experts are reluctant to make any predictions.
On the plus side, homeowners in financial trouble may find there's a lot of debt help available for them, from mortgage advice and ISMI (income support for mortgage interest) to promises of forbearance from mortgage lenders across the UK.