How to evaluate a market?

[Jack Arnold]

I was just wondering if somebody could explain to me how I can evaluate how the market is doing? Or which part of the cycle the market is in? I am new to real estate and have been learning the basics of buy and hold and flipping, everybody where I live (England) is telling me that now is the best time to buy a house because of the market but I want to be able to determine this myself. Can anyone help me or direct me to a post that deals with this? Maybe explaining the pros and cons of each stage of the market? Thank you