House prices to stop falling within a year

The majority of estate agents (61 per cent) believe that average house prices in the UK will stop falling within 12 months, according to new research from Abbey Mortgages.

Estate agents' view

In a survey of estate agents, 30 per cent stated that they believe house prices will stabilise in 0-6 months and 31 per cent think it will take 6-12 months. A further 28 per cent believe that we will experience further house price falls for 1-2 years and 7 per cent think it will take 2-3 years for house prices to stop falling. Just 2 per cent of estate agents think that declining house prices will last for longer than 3 years.

Homeowners are more optimistic

The average homeowner also believes that house prices won't experience a prolonged decline, speculating that prices will stop falling in 7 months on average. No homeowners think that house price declines will last for more than 12 months.

The vast majority of homeowners (79 per cent) are prepared to wait for any further house price falls before they make a decision on whether to move. A further 7 per cent of homeowners plan to take advantage of house price falls in the next 12 months by either snapping up a bargain and moving to a larger home or by selling their home and moving to rented accommodation.

Phil Cliff, Director of Abbey Mortgages, comments: "Estate agents and homeowners believe that, despite current movements in house prices, we are unlikely to experience a really prolonged period of house price falls. Most think the period of decline will be over within a year and a very small minority think it will last longer than 2-3 years. While this is 'light at the end of the tunnel', it implies that estate agents and homeowners are bracing themselves for further falls in the very near future."