While it originally seemed to be all doom and gloom for the property market after Britain voted to leave the EU, recent research has revealed a much more positive outlook on house prices and the number of people interested in buying a home.
A recent study from estate agents Knight Frank revealed a “significant uptick in sentiment since the vote to leave the EU…” with results showing a fall in the number of homeowners who expect the value of their properties to drop.
The recent survey collected responses from 1,500 homes across the UK and found that only 12% of respondents expected their property's value to fall, an interesting statistic that was almost double when recorded in July at 23%.
According to the latest House Price Sentiment Index from Knight Frank just over 18% of those surveyed expected property prices to rise, a much improved statistic when compared to the 11.2% of July 2016.
Another sign of increasing optimism amongst homeowners, was the slight increase in the percentage of respondents interested in buying a home within the next 12 months, a number which rose from 4.6% to 6% over the course of the last year.
According to Senior Economist of the market analysts IHS Markit, Tim Moore “The key message is that UK housing market sentiment has recovered strongly this autumn from the post-referendum jitters seen during the summer.”
“There were signs of resilience across all UK regions, with households in the south of England most confident that property values will rise over the next 12 months.”
A second survey was conducted by property website Zoopla showing similar results and looked into responses from different regions in the UK.
Zoopla’s survey showed 73% of respondents believe the property values in their area will continue to increase with homeowners in the East of England and the Midlands showing the most confident, while those in Scotland and the North East appearing the most cautious, with only 60% of homeowners showing optimism on price rises.
Lawrence Hall, of Zoopla commented on the recent statistics stating that “Despite the political and economic uncertainty that Britain has faced over the last six months, it is reassuring that homeowners remain largely confident in the resilience and continued growth of the property market.
“Though anticipated growth rates may have slowed slightly, it’s encouraging that more homeowners are planning to buy or sell over the next six months and feel more able to achieve a mortgage approval than they did back in April.”
