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News: Confidence In Housing Market Falls

Wed, 07 Jul 10

Confidence in house price rises is ebbing away, according to a latest survey by property website Zoopla.

Its latest Housing Market Sentiment Survey shows that 78% of respondents believe prices will rise over the next six months.

However, this is down on its last survey carried out three months ago that showed 81% of people expected house prices to continue to rise.

Of those that are expecting house prices during 2010 the average growth mentioned was 5.5% from now until the end of the year.

Lack of availability of mortgages continues to be a concern. A third of those surveyed said this is the greatest threat to the UK housing market.

A quarter said they were worried about possible interest rate rises and around a fifth believe public sector job cuts and pay freezes will damage the property market.

Nicholas Leeming, commercial director of Zoopla, said: “Confidence among homeowners remains high for the time being, but the dip does signal a directional shift as concerns are building again around the outlook for the property market.

“The fear remains that the revival in the housing market will be derailed unless the banks make a concerted effort to increase lending. With job cuts looming in the public sector and interest rate hikes expected at some point, the new government has its work cut out."

By Joe Lepper 

See also: Asking Price Index, House Prices and Trends by Town and Postcode, Mortgages, Life Insurance and Mortgage Protection Guide

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