Confidence in mortgage lending 'low' despite improving market

07/01/2010

Confidence in the UK housing market is slowly returning to pre-credit crunch levels, but faith in mortgage lending remains low.

Around 81 per cent of people think that house prices will rise within the next six months according to property website Zoopla.

Figures are most optimistic in Scotland where 84 per cent are expecting prices to increase.

However, faith in mortgage appears to have taken a bigger hit as three-quarters of those surveyed did not think it was any easier to get a mortgage than it was three months ago.

Despite positive outlooks, Nicholas Leeming from Zoopla has said that the recovery process will be slow.

Mr Leeming said: "A year is a long time in the housing market and, whilst the recovery is still in its infancy, optimism is now back to levels not seen since the credit crunch began in 2007."

But he added: "With increased confidence amongst owners about putting their homes on the market to match the pent-up demand from buyers, we could see a welcome boost to the recovery of the housing market."

Kevin Still, director of EuroDebt, commented: "A concern for most homeowners that have had debt problems through the recession is whether they can get a new competitive mortgage even if someone wants to buy their property at an acceptable price.

"There are more funds available to lenders, but they are being very selective with regard to who they offer it to.

"It is interesting that more homeowners are considering renting than ever before – which is a very non-British view and may represent a major change in culture because of sustained adverse circumstances."

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills,

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