Housing market confidence reaches two year high: Zoopla

The quarterly survey of housing market sentiment from Zoopla revealed that only one in ten (11%) of the 6,682 homeowners surveyed predicted values will fall over the next six months.

However, homeowners' optimism for housing market is not shared by renters with 42% saying house values in their area will either remain unchanged or decline in the coming six months.

Despite the difficulties in securing a mortgage, (53%) of the 501 renters surveyed indicated they would try to buy in the next six months.

Alex Chesterman, chief executive of Zoopla, said optimism in the property market has climbed back to levels not seen since before the credit crunch.

He added: "Confidence drives transaction volumes, which in turn drives house prices. But with lending remaining constrained, transaction volume cannot recover as strongly as demand suggests it should, and the inability of first-time buyers to get a toehold on the housing ladder is the biggest single risk to the housing market recovery."