UK House Prices Seen Steady But Over-Valued - Survey

UK House Prices Seen Steady But Over-Valued - Survey

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The proportion of U.K. consumers that expect house prices to be little changed in a year's time has grown for the seventh consecutive quarter even though almost half say prices in their local area are over-valued, a survey by property Website Rightmove showed Wednesday.

"There is a growing sense that many homes coming onto the U.K. housing market are priced too high," Miles Shipside, the director of Rightmove, said in a statement. "This suggests the prospect of a market stand-off and rising unsold stock levels if sellers don't wise up to the house price views of their target market."

The percentage of consumers who expect prices to be about the same one year from now rose to 40.3% in the second quarter from 38.0% in the first and 32.7% this time in 2010, Rightmove said. The company surveyed 26,240 people between April 4-18.

The percentage expecting prices to rise increased to 28.3% in the second quarter from 24.2% in the first, while the percentage expecting a fall in prices dropped to 24.9% from 32.3%, Rightmove said. The percentage of people who didn't know rose to 6.5% from 5.5%.

Confidence in the economy and the state of the mortgage market were the key factors determining views on the price outlook, the survey showed.