Just under two-thirds (63%) of homeowners feel the property market will defy the stuttering economy and expect house prices to rise between now and the end of the year. This time last year, only 57% of homeowners expected a rise property prices in the second half of the year. Confidence in the housing market is now also stronger than at the start of this year when only 55% of owners thought prices would rise between then and now. Only 18% of homeowners surveyed by Zoopla.co.uk expect house prices to fall over the next six months
However homeowners’ predictions on how much property prices will rise over the next six months have softened a little over the past three months, with the average homeowner now expecting a 3.2% rise in their local area, compared to 3.7% last quarter.
The confidence in the housing market was not mirrored by improved sentiment around mortgage availability. Over a third of those surveyed (35%) stated that they believed it is harder to secure a mortgage than three months ago and only 10% thought that finding a mortgage had become easier, the lowest level since the end of 2010.
Owners in the north-east of England are the most pessimistic about the state of the local property market, with 31% expecting the value of their home to drop over the coming months. At the other end of the confidence scale, Londoners are the most confident homeowners in Britain with 80% of them expecting to see prices rise further in the capital over the next six months. On top of that, owners in London are predicting average property prices will rise by 5.4% before the end of the year.
Nigel Lewis of Zoopla.co.uk commented:
"Homeowners evidently feel that there are some grounds for optimism, despite the backdrop of slow economic growth and tight mortgage lending. Whilst some areas of the housing market remain weak, enough are holding up to give homeowners the confidence to feel positive about the next six months, particularly in the south and the high end markets."
