The survey of 1,500 brokers during January painted a picture of higher house prices, increasing numbers of buyers and stable or falling interest rates in the eyes of brokers.
The research shows that 65 per cent of brokers expect house prices to rise this year, whilst 31 per cent expect them to remain broadly the same as in 2005, and 4 per cent think they will fall.
52 per cent expect more buyers to enter the market in 2006, whilst 32 per cent think the number of homebuyers will be roughly the same as last year and 16 per cent think there will be fewer.
The picture for interest rates indicates expectations of stable or falling rates, with 43 per cent thinking they will fall over the year, 48 per cent seeing them remaining stable and 9 per cent thinking they will rise.
Keith Astill, managing director at UCB Home Loans, said: “Brokers obviously see the housing market faring reasonably well this year and their views are broadly in line with our own.”
“Nationwide’s latest figures show that house prices increased by 1.4 per cent in January, bringing the annual growth rate to 4.4 per cent.”
