Housing market to see recovery in 2010

03/11/2009

"Real recovery" in the housing market is likely to begin during next year, a property expert has claimed.

According to the Little House Company, the market currently lacks volume in terms of the numbers of would-be buyers and sellers.

As soon as these people return to the property market, then house prices may remain the same or begin to drop as increasing numbers become available, the business explained.

Jane Marr, company director at the Little House Company, said: "It seems that 2010 will be the start of a real recovery for the UK housing market once confidence from both sellers and buyers returns.

"The slight caveat to this will be unemployment figures; bad news will slow the recovery by reducing consumer confidence."

She added that many people are still in search of bargains within the housing market and may be willing to wait until next year before making a purchase.

Figures from the Hometrack report revealed that 92.9 per cent of property sellers achieved their asking price during October 2009.

Kevin Still, EuroDebt director, said: "There continue to be mixed messages from property experts, with Nationwide saying at the start of November 2009 that house prices are now higher than they were a year ago - the first annual increase in 19 months - but they warned that the rate of growth had started to slow.

"According to Nationwide, the average house is now worth £162,038. For people in financial difficulty it is unlikely that re-mortgaging will be an option to deal with mounting personal debts unless more products become available at higher loan-to-values. With the Financial Services Authority tightening lending criteria for the self-employed, it is likely that many homeowners, both employed and self-employed, will need to look at non-borrowing solutions to deal with their unsecured debts, like a Debt Management Plan [DMP] or an Individual Voluntary Arrangement."

He concluded: "According to Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium, consumer confidence has reached an 18 month high, reflecting improving sentiment on job prospects and personal finance, however, EuroDebt's experience is that consumers remain very worried about the job security and loss of income is the top reason for people starting a DMP."

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills,

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