Housing market confidence has improved slightly from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017.
Confidence in the UK housing market has stabilised after declining rapidly following the EU referendum result, the Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker has revealed.
Housing market confidence has improved slightly from the fourth quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017.
Over half (58%) expect the average property price to rise in the next 12 months, compared to just 14% who expect them to fall.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: “House price optimism is little changed since the October 2016 measure, which is significant because it was the first post-Brexit survey and recorded the steepest fall since the tracker began.
“This sentiment echoes the slowdown in the annual rate of house price growth, which has more than halved over the past 12 months.
“We are seeing a renewed drop in confidence amongst consumers regarding the general economic outlook, which is coinciding with the government starting its two-year period of EU exit negotiations.”
Just over half (52%) of the public believe the next 12 months will be a good time to sell, compared to a third who think otherwise.
Being able to raise enough deposit remains the biggest perceived barrier to buying a home, with 65% identifying this as a problem.
This comes after UK average house prices over the last year rose by 3.8% to £219,949 in February 2017.
