Ninety-two per cent of homeowners believe property prices will rise over the next six months, a new survey shows.
The latest Housing Market Sentiment survey from Zoopla shows confidence down slightly from a four-year high of 95 per cent earlier this year, with concerns being raised about mortgage availability as a result of new lending criteria following the Mortgage Market Review.
Amongst the 7,810 homeowners surveyed by Zoopla, the average prediction for house price growth over the remainder of the year currently stands at 7.6 per cent.
The Mortgage Market Review (MMR) and associated new lending rules have both slowed down the mortgage application process and made securing finance more difficult – with 40 per cent of those surveyed saying that securing a mortgage is now harder than it was three months ago.
Despite that, 79 per cent of UK homeowners plan to spend at least the same or more on home improvements over the next year compared to last year.
For the first time in a long time, London homeowners are not the most confident across the country about house price rises in their area.
The South East, the South West, the East of England and the West Midlands have all overtaken the capital in terms of homeowner confidence.
With London prices having moved up so far and fast, the proportion of homeowners in the capital who expect prices to rise over the next six months has fallen from 98 per cent to 92 per cent over the last three months.
