Huge swing in the asking price expectations
New research from Rightmove has found a huge swing in the asking price expectations by homeowners.
The company's latest consumer confidence survey found that at the start of this year 69% of respondents expected house prices to be lower at the end of 2010. However, 56% of those polled now expect asking prices to be higher in 12 months time and only 11% now expect house prices to fall over the next year.
It did find that there is a bottleneck in the market after finding 68% of people believe now is a good time to buy, yet only five per cent feel it is currently a good time to sell. This backs up others studies from the likes of National Association of Estate Agents which have found there are currently five buyers for every house.
A Rightmove spokesperson said that some industry experts are predicting a decline in property prices but public opinion is against them.
They added that housing stock shortages have been one of the prominent features of 2009, with the numbers of new sellers coming to market around 30% below 2007 levels. Looking ahead to one year from now, there is a definite expectation amongst respondents that it will be a better time than now to put their property on the market.