EIGHTY per cent of homeowners predict property prices will rise over next six months.
The latest Property Sentiment Survey from Zoopla.co.uk reveals 80 per cent UK homeowners are predicting property values will rise over the next six months, the highest level for three years.
In an indication that confidence is flooding back into the housing market, Zoopla's poll of 5,863 homeowners found that 4 out of 5 of them now expect prices to rise in their area before the end of the year, the biggest proportion since the second quarter of 2010. Just 7 per cent of homeowners across the UK expect house prices will fall between now and Christmas, down from 13 per cent just three month ago.
And the amount by which the average homeowner expects prices to rise is also at its highest in three years. UK homeowners now predict property prices will increase by an average of 4.8 per cent over the next six months, up from 4.4 per cent three months ago. Property owners are also much more confident about mortgage availability. Twenty six per cent believe attaining a mortgage now is easier compared to three months ago.
Homeowner confidence has improved throughout the UK, not just the South East, with nine out of 11 regions seeing an increase in the proportion of homeowners who think prices will rise over the next six months. Scotland and the South West of England are the only regions where confidence has fallen over the last quarter.
The biggest increase in confidence amongst homeowners is in the West Midlands, where 78 per cent of homeowners now believe house prices will climb in their region over the next six months compared to only 63 per cent three months ago. Londoners remain the most confident, with 93 per cent of homeowners in the capital expecting property values to rise in the next six months. Homeowners in Wales are the most pessimistic about their local property market, with 13 per cent still predicting a fall in the property values over the second half of the year.
Homeowner confidence is crucial to a healthy housing market. Without it sales activity tends to be low, which jams the brakes on the entire property chain.
The trials and tribulations of the financial crisis drained confidence out of the market, but it is making a strong comeback.
With mortgage availability improving considerably in the last few months, the first-time buyer market is moving again and revving the engine of the whole housing market. And the improvement in confidence isn't limited to just London and the South East, it's sweeping across the whole of the UK.