Buyer confidence in house prices reaches high

Confidence in the growth of house prices has reached a 20-month high with 71 per cent believing that property values will continue to increase in 2007, according to research by Yorkshire Bank.

The new figure shows a drastic rise in the past 12 months as a year ago just over half (55 per cent) of buyers thought house prices would climb.

However buyers are still looking to haggle on properties to ensure they get a good deal.
More than a fifth (21 per cent) of buyers would make a low offer to start with, only raising it if necessary. That compares with only 12 per cent of keen buyers who would immediately offer over the asking price to get their perfect home.

A quarter of buyers are said to be looking for a property they can renovate and add value to.

Commenting on the growing trend, Gary Lumby, Yorkshire bank's head of retail, said: "Buyers who are now looking for properties they can do up are using this uncertainty to their advantage by trying their luck with a lower initial offer - and only raising it if necessary. Should these offers below the asking price be accepted by sellers then we may see prices levelling off."

The survey also highlighted that over three-quarters of those questioned do not intend on moving home, suggesting that the housing market is beginning to slow.