Huge drop in numbers expecting rates to rise
Research has revealed a 20% drop in respondents expecting interest rates to rise, a figure which has previously trended upwards in the monthly survey since the start of the year.
The research from the Worldwide Property Group confidence tracker survey carried out in May also shows that, of those respondents who believe rates could rise, nearly 70% thought this would only be a moderate rise by a maximum of 0.5%.
By comparison, at the start of the year, 40% of respondents believed an increase could be anything from 0.75% to 3% or more.
Other results from the survey revealed that only 16% of respondents believe that house prices will fall over the next 12 months, the lowest figure since the survey began. This could indicate that the public are of the impression that prices have levelled off and thus explains why 70% of respondents believe property is the best investment, with the same number of the opinion that now is a good time to invest in UK property.
Of the 58% of respondents who said they would consider making a foreign property investment, many appear to be focusing their attention on the America’s, with the USA holding number one spot, followed by the Caribbean and Brazil.
Commenting on the survey results, managing director of the Worldwide Property Group, Kevin Wilkes said: “By maintaining the base rate at 0.5% in May, the month that many had marked as the changing point, the Bank of England has offered renewed confidence to those expecting a rise and highlighted that the fragile state of the economy makes this an unlikely event for some time to come.”
John Read, Managing Director at Shaws Estate Agents said: “The results of this survey are very encouraging for the UK property market and I certainly feel that the pressure on increasing mortgage rates significantly has eased. In regards property prices, this is a little more difficult to predict as the effects of the Government’s austerity measures begin to take effect. I certainly do not see large falls in value but would urge potential sellers to be realistic in their pricing in order to attract a buyer. Realised prices are fairly static but asking prices have been creeping up and, in many cases this is slowing the opportunities for a sale.
