Increase in buying and selling sentiment as house price optimism for 2015 recovers
The second monthly wave of the Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker in 2015 shows nearly two thirds of Britons (64%) expect the average UK property price to rise this year, up from 60% who said this in January 2015.
This compares to 4% who expect the average price to fall, leaving the headline House Price Outlook balance (HPO – the proportion of people that expect the average house price to rise in the next 12 months less those who think it will fall) at +60. This is eight points higher than the equivalent figure last month (HPO was +52 in January 2015), but slightly lower than where it stood in December 2014, at +62.
At the same time, both buying and selling sentiment have increased since January 2015. The proportion of Britons who think it will be a good time to buy over the next 12 months has increased from 56% last month, to 61%. This is greater than the proportion who think it will be a good time to sell, which has risen from 52% to 56% over the same period.
Other findings include:
- Buying sentiment is more positive in Scotland, where 74% think the next 12 months will be a good time to buy property compared to 61% of Britons overall. Meanwhile people in the Midlands and London are less likely than overall to say it will be a good time to buy (52% and 44%, respectively).
- People in South England are significantly more likely than Britons overall to say it will be a good time to sell (67% compared to 56%, respectively), while those in North England are less likely to say this (45%).
- Over two in five (43%) think it will be both a good time to buy and sell over the next 12 months, the highest this figure has been since the survey’s inception.
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Technical note Ipsos interviewed 967 British adults aged 16+ face-to-face, between 13-23 February 2015. Data has been weighted to the known population profile.
