Despite strong fears over mortgage availability, 81 per cent of homeowners believe UK property values will rise over the next six months.
Four out of five UK homeowners think that property prices will continue to climb over the next six months up from 30 per cent one year ago, according to a survey from property website, Zoopla.co.uk.
According to the survey, only nine per cent of homeowners believe that property values will fall over the next six months whilst a further 10 per cent expect prices to remain flat. The average growth predicted by those surveyed is for house prices to rise by 5.7 per cent by October.
However, the availability of mortgage financing remains the main obstacle to a sustained improvement in the housing market despite four out of five of those surveyed saying that it is now easier to obtain a mortgage than it was three months ago.
The website also confirmed the upcoming election is a clear factor in terms of current market activity with almost a quarter of those surveyed stating that they will wait to assess the outcome of the election before making any property-related decisions.
Across the UK, the Scots are most upbeat over the prospects for the local property market, with 86 per cent expecting house prices in their area to rise over the next six months, compared to 80 per cent in England and 76 per cent in Wales. The picture is somewhat less optimistic in Northern Ireland with only 62 per cent predicting house prices will rise over the next six months.
Nicholas Leeming, commercial director of Zoopla.co.uk, said: “With the bad weather behind us and the recent stamp duty relief introduced for first-time buyers, confidence in the property market has bounced back well. Despite the optimism, significant concerns remain around the supply of mortgages and whilst affordability levels are now higher than at any time in the past few years the lack of mortgage funding, especially for first-time buyers, remains the single biggest threat to a full housing market recovery.”
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