Rightmove survey reveals housing market optimism

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by Kay Murchie

A survey by property website, Rightmove, has unveiled growing confidence within the housing market.

The website found that over half of Britons (53%) believe property prices will increase over the next year - compared to just 10% this time last year.

The optimism comes at a time when the country awaits news that the economy has finally emerged from its year-long recession.

The UK economy, which has now contracted for six consecutive quarters, has been lagging behind other economies and is now the last major economy that is still in recession.

However, official figures due tomorrow (Tuesday, 26 January) will confirm whether the economy saw positive growth in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, commenting on its findings, Miles Shipside, commercial director at Rightmove, “Given the looming election and the talk of pending austerity packages ahead, this consumer survey highlights a surprisingly positive property price outlook.”

However, Mr Shipside points out that confidence is still well below levels experienced prior to the recession.

Many analysts were surprised by the strength in house prices last year after several leading experts had predicted falls of around 10%.

However, house prices rose in the latter half of the year as a result of higher demand and a shortage of properties up for sale.

As a result, many have revised their forecasts for the 2010 year with predictions of a small rise of 1%-2%.