UK housing market not affected by concerns on economy.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne has announced the postponement of the sale of the final stake in Lloyds Banking Group held by the government, he blames global turmoil in the markets and sluggish growth, the UK economy reported growth at the end of 2015 but fears of a global slowdown have seen optimism decline.
Osborne reportedly told the BBC that he would not give the go-ahead until the markets had calmed, saying that “now is not the right time”.
Confidence in the UK housing market however remains strong, despite these growing concerns over the wider economy, according to new research today.
According to the latest quarterly Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker it showed that despite confidence declining steadily since May, the majority of people still believe that average UK property prices will be higher in 12 months’ time, with 13 per cent of people believing that prices will be at least 10 per cent higher.
Craig McKinlay, Mortgages Director at the Halifax is bullish about the property market in the year ahead, he reportedly says: “Solid economic growth, rising real earnings and falls in already very low mortgage rates are all stimulating housing,” he said. “At the same time, there is an increasingly acute imbalance between supply and demand, which is causing property prices to rise at a robust pace.”