Henley on Thames - Business - Confidence in South-East housing market bucks the national trend

Henley on Thames - Business - Confidence in South-East housing market bucks the national trend

Henley Standard

Confidence in South-East housing market bucks the national trend

THE number of home-owners who expect house prices to rise over the next six months has fallen over the last quarter, according to the latest Zoopla.co.uk survey. A total of 57 per cent of home-owners now believe prices are set to climb, compared to 59 per cent in March.

Confidence has waned over the second quarter of 2011 due to continued lending constraints and economic uncertainty. Despite the quarterly drop in confidence, home-owners are still more positive now than they were back in January when only 54 per cent of home-owners believed prices would rise. However, these figures are still significantly below the peak in early 2010 when 81 per cent of British home-owners expected property prices to rise.

The drop in confidence has also affected the amount by which homeowners believe house prices will rise over the coming six months. According to the 4,146 home-owners surveyed, house prices are expected to rise by an average of 2.6 per cent over the next six months, down from the 2.8 per cent predicted three months ago.

The story in London and the South-East is very different from the national trend with housing market confidence growing in these areas. In London, 74 per cent of home-owners are expecting house prices to rise between now and the end of the year, up from 68 per cent three months ago. And the average amount by which Londoners expect prices to grow has increased significantly to 6.2 per cent, up from 2.7 per cent last quarter. In the rest of the South-East, 63 per cent of homeowners are confident prices will rise compared to only 58 per cent three months ago.