Britons want fall in property prices

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by Kay Murchie

A study has established that the majority of Britons are hoping that property prices will fall rather than increase.

A survey commissioned by the BBC discovered that 28% are wishing for a fall in property prices, 22% are hoping for an increase, while 46% want them to remain the same.

Furthermore, 60% of respondents said a fall of over 10% would not negatively impact on their household spending. 38% said it would make them more likely to cut back.

The survey was carried out by ICM, who polled 1,005 people over a 3-day period from 25 to 27 April.

A drop in property prices may help struggling first-time buyers while giving those already on the property ladder hope to upgrade to a larger house in the near future.

The poll was commissioned after makers of the BBC2 TV series ‘The Truth About Property’ discovered a large number of people who wanted property prices to fall.

However, economists are worried that if house prices fall too quickly, it may knock consumer confidence - which is already at its lowest for 15 years. As a result, this could lead to reduced spending which could worsen the current economic slowdown.

Earlier this month, Nationwide reported that UK property prices are lower than they were a year ago. House prices fell 1% in a year, the first annual drop in over a decade.

Halifax, Britain’s largest mortgage provider, has echoed Nationwide reports and confirmed that house prices fell by 1.3% in April compared with March. Halifax puts the average home at £189,027.

Halifax now expects a ‘mid-single-digit‘ percentage fall throughout 2008. Some experts are predicting falls of between 10%-20% over the next 2 years.