I’ve always thought of not breaking the bank as a jovial saying, celebrating frugality and implying the impossibility of damaging a financial institution. But anyone watching the market turmoil which buffeted the nation’s finances following the announcements may not find it so amusing.

It made me think about the other aphorisms around money and they suddenly seem a little unreliable.

“Sound as a pound” certainly isn’t as reassuring in the wake of the ups and downs of Sterling, and “as safe as houses” might ring a little hollow these days too.

It is certainly easy to be stressed by property headlines...

Those trying to get a foot on the housing ladder have seen mortgage products pulled from the market with little notice. More expensive lending now introduced in their place might put paid to many people’s ability to buy at all. Meanwhile, homeowners are reading warnings from some quarters of drops in property values on the horizon, with the dreaded possibility of negative equity hanging in the air.

If they aren’t already on long-term fixed-rate mortgages, then interest hikes will be visited upon them too.

And sellers are fearing a market slowdown where properties could take months to shift – even at a discounted price.

It is hard to find anyone who hasn’t been affected in some way. Among the unluckiest is a friend who put her house on the market in spring this year and received a good offer almost immediately.

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By the time the sale fell through, four months later, values had increased and she was delighted when a much higher offer came in pretty swiftly.

Unfortunately, this week that deal collapsed as well, and the house is now back on the market. No viewers have yet graced her door.

Her phrase to describe the experience – “a real rollercoaster ride” – feels depressingly true.

She is sanguine, however, but then those of us who are a bit longer in the tooth will have experience of riding out the vagaries of booms and busts when it comes to our homes.

It must also be remembered that the last two and a half years have seen unprecedented hikes in prices, so values would need to go through the floor to reverse those.

Thus if you have owned your property for a while, the paper gains you may have made and then lost will be of no consequence.

First-time buyers, if prices fall and interest rates settle back down in time, could even find themselves in a better position in terms of affordability in the future.

For those looking to upsize, any price falls should make the next home cheaper. If prices hold, remortgagers may find that their loan-to-value ratio has improved since their last deal too.

Such thoughts might be cold comfort – another rueful saying, given the costs of heating.

But experienced homeowners know that when it comes to property the phrase that you should cleave to, is: “This too shall pass.”

- Kirsty McLuckie is property editor at The Scotsman

Kirsty McLuckie: As safe as houses?