House price rise expected, reports London Mortgage Advice Thursday, 12th January 2012

Homeowners surveyed by Zoopla said they expected house prices to rise over the following quarter.In October, this was 59%.

Down from 2.7% predicted over the past three months. This compares with figures from Halifax’s December House Price Index revealed that house prices dropped 0.1% in the three months to December.

Whilst 29% expect house prices in their area to fall, only 24% of homeowners said they expect the value of their own property to fall over the coming six months

Up from 68% last quarter,London homeowners were more optimistic about the housing market with 72% of Londoners expecting average values in the capital to rise over the next six months.

What the surviey shows is that owners in the capital now predict property prices to grow by 4.7% over the first half of 2012.

But there is a need for mortgage availability to improve. However barely more than 10% of the homeowners surveyed by Zoopla said they reckoned it was now easier to obtain mortgage finance than it was three months ago.