According to research from first direct, UK home-owners waiting for the right moment to ‘trade up' their houses are now sitting on a savings pot of £20.2 billion which is ready to be ploughed into the housing market when the time is right.
Findings suggest that with the property market already showing small signs of recovery, the average Brit expects house prices to start rising steadily as soon as October 2010.
One in six (15 per cent) think house prices will return to steady growth by the end of 2009, but the most pessimistic 16 per cent expect to wait until after the Olympic year 2012 to see steadily rising prices again.
Playing the waiting game
The highest proportion of house-buyers playing the waiting game live in the capital, with 15 per cent of savvy Londoners delaying house buying decisions. Women (14 per cent) are twice as likely as men (eight per cent) to wait for falling prices.
The waiting game has an emotional impact on the nation - a quarter (25 per cent) feel lucky to be able to take advantage of a falling market and snap up houses while prices are low. Close to two in 10 (18 per cent) are thrilled at the prospect of nabbing a bargain.
However, for 20 per cent of the nation, the waiting game is forcing them to postpone major life decisions such as marriage and children - and 12 per cent feel that they will never make it on to the property ladder with prices as they stand.
first direct spokesman, Jimmy Kelly, said: "If property is your preferred investment, it's worth existing home-owners investigating offset mortgages as a savings option while they wait for the right time to invest. With savings accounts paying such low rates of interest at the moment, offsets are looking particularly attractive.
"Swapping to an offset mortgage could cut down the length of a £100,000 25 year mortgage by almost three years and save £18,322 in interest payments over the lifetime of the mortgage."
