It doesn't add up

If you believe all the press and t.v. reports over the last few weeks, prices have gone through the roof. But the annual rate of inflation remains at 2.5% - pretty low by historic standards.

Meanwhile, the Guardian says that:

Downing Street today promised further action to help borrowers as new figures showed that house prices are falling at their fastest rate since records began 30 years ago.

In fact, as the BBC says:

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (Rics) said that 78.5% more surveyors reported a fall than a rise in house prices in March.

This was the gloomiest reading since Rics began the survey in 1978.

Which is not the same thing. It's tempting to say that journalists twist statistics but I think the truth is that most don't understand them.