The majority of the 4,301 people polled in December 2008 (52 per cent) expect the UK housing market to start moving again within 12 months, and of those, 30 per cent believe house prices will have bottomed out by the summer and only 23 per cent expect it to take longer than 18 months.
The news supports the latest predictions from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) that property prices may have already bottomed out and could rise by 10 per cent in 2009.
Richard Barnett, senior partner at Barnetts, said: “This is a strong sign that people expect the markets to pick up before 2009 is out, once the current correction for previous over-inflation completes. This is exactly the kind of optimism we will need to kick-start the recovery process.
“It was reported last week that tycoons such as billionaire John Caudwell are already starting to invest in the afflicted commercial property market. I’ve always said that investors returning to the markets will be our clearest indicator that prices are bottoming out.”
“As RICS and the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) have suggested, many in the industry expect the recovery process to move rapidly, mirroring the speed the slump itself set in. The challenge for us now is to be poised to respond to the upturn and the opportunities it will bring, but demonstrate flexibility and resilience until that time comes.”
