Nearly two-thirds of homeowners expect house prices to rise over next six months

Owners in the north-east of England are the most pessimistic about the state of the local property market

UK homeowners are confident about the prospects for the housing market over the next six months, despite the poor economic outlook for the remainder of the year.

The latest Housing Market Sentiment Survey from Zoopla.co.uk shows that 63% of homeowners expect house prices to rise between now and the end of 2012. This time last year, only 57% of homeowners expected a rise property prices in the second half of the year.

Confidence in the housing market is now also stronger than at the start of this year when 55% of owners thought prices would rise between then and now. Only 18% of homeowners surveyed by Zoopla.co.uk expect house prices to fall over the next six months.

However, more than a third of those surveyed said that they believed it is harder to secure a mortgage than three months ago and only 10% thought that finding a mortgage had become easier, the lowest level since 2010.

The report shows that:

* owners in the north-east of England are the most pessimistic about the state of the local property market, with 31% expecting the value of their home to drop over the coming months

* Londoners are the most confident homeowners in Britain with 80% expecting to see prices rise further in the capital over the next six months

* owners in London are predicting average property prices will rise by 5.4% before the end of 2012

“Homeowners evidently feel that there are some grounds for optimism, despite the backdrop of slow economic growth and tight mortgage lending," said Nigel Lewis of Zoopla.co.uk. "While some areas of the housing market remain weak, enough are holding up to give homeowners the confidence to feel positive about the next six months, particularly in the south and the high end markets.”