Housing Market Expected To Start Recovering This Year
It has been reported on several occasions in the run up to Christmas that there is some positive news on the horizon for the UK housing and secured loan markets during the course of 2009.
Property prices have dropped to a level where many experts believe they have now reached the bottom of the market and with interest rates the lowest they have been in many years, the monthly cost of a homeowner loan has dropped significantly, making the process of buying a new home cheaper and more affordable than it has been in a long time.
It now seems that this optimism is finally starting to filter through to consumers who may be considering buying property, but so far have been putting off making a decision and waiting for the right time.
According to a new survey from one of the UK’s largest conveyancing firms, Barnetts Solicitors, public confidence in the UK housing market is at a high level, with more than half of those interviewed believing that the market will recover throughout the course of this year.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has claimed that the market has already bottomed and has predicted rises of around 10 per cent in house prices in 2009. The only thing now holding back the market is the lack of available finance from banks and building societies, through homeowner loans and other secured loans, but with speculation about the Government providing funds for a further bail out of Britain’s banking and loan sector, this could also be a possibility.
Richard Barnett of Barnetts solicitors said “This is a strong sign that people expect the markets to pick up before 2009 is out, once the current correction for previous over inflation completes. This is exactly the kind of optimism we will need to kick start the recovery process.
As RICS and the National Association of Estate Agents have suggested, many in the industry expect the recovery process to move rapidly, mirroring the speed of the slump itself set in. The challenge for us now is to be poised to respond to the upturn and the opportunities it will bring, but demonstrate flexibility and resilience until that time comes.”
