Will £500 billion of taxpayers’ money turn bankers from the bad guys of the credit crunch into its heroes? Who knows what the next twist will be in this nerve-tingling drama, which had made us fear not only for the value of our homes, but also for the security of our savings?

Anyone minded to think of bankers as sub-prime slimeballs will be confirmed in that view by the news that some high street names are withdrawing competitive mortgage deals, despite yesterday’s bumper handout from the Chancellor and the half-point cut in the base rate.

No wonder some property market observers were sniffy about the impact of the rate cut, stating that, though “a step in the right direction”, it could not be sufficient to reinvigorate a housing market that is moribund in some areas. Some observers are convinced that the base rate and mortgage rates are now definitively decoupled, no longer moving in tandem.

But there is a tendency when talking about property prices to overdo the optimism when they are climbing and to be overly gloomy in a downturn. Other commentators, such as Nicholas Leeming, of propertyfinder.com, see the base rate change as having “massive psychological importance” and likely to “make people consider moving home again”.

Take some consolation also from the fact that 4.7 million mortgage borrowers with tracker and variable rate deals will benefit from the base rate cut. There is a danger in growing so accustomed to bad news that we do not know good news when we hear it.