Those looking to secure a mortgage in order to purchase a new home may find the cost of doing so increases this year, judging by newly-released figures.
The Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker has shown that 29 per cent of Britons expect house prices to escalate over the next 12 months, while just 22 per cent anticipate these costs will decline during the same period.
Despite this, the majority of those questioned said they believe the housing market outlook will remain subdued, with 65 per cent of respondents forecasting this figure will stand between +5 per cent and -5 per cent.
Those hoping to agree on a mortgage deal may therefore wish to take these predictions into account when deciding upon their next course of action.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax – which is a division of Bank of Scotland – said: “The modest improvement in consumer confidence in the outlook for house prices reflects the resilience of the UK housing market over recent months in the face of a weak economic recovery.”
He added broad stability for house pries is expected for the remainder of 2012, although some uncertainty remains.
