UK home owner confidence dips as mortgage concerns rise

Home owners in the UK are less confident about further house price growth in the next six months and many are concerned about getting a mortgage, new research shows.

The housing market sentiment survey from Zoopla reveals that confidence has now fallen a 15 month low and it also found that 39% of respondents believe it is harder to get a mortgage than it was three months ago.
 
Overall the survey found that the proportion of home owners expecting property prices in their area to increase over the next six months has fallen from 92% three months ago to 88%, the lowest level since July 2013.
 
Home owners in the East of England are the most bullish about continued house price rises, with 91% expecting property values to increase over the next six months.

The South West has seen the most significant drop in confidence over the past three months, with the proportion of home owners anticipating further price gains falling from 95% three months ago to 85% today.
 
Following the implementation of stricter affordability criteria for borrowing, 39% of those homeowners surveyed stated that they thought it was more difficult to get a mortgage now than it was three months ago. 

‘The property market signals are somewhat harder to decipher at the moment than they were a few months ago,’ said Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.

‘With the lengthier funding approval process following the Mortgage Market Review and fewer homeowners predicting that house prices will continue to rise in the short term, the coming months will be crucial to determine if the housing market recovery has stalled or simply paused for breath,’ he added.