House prices are over-valued, half of consumers have said – but only a quarter hold out any hope that prices will fall.
Rightmove interviewed over 26,000 people for its latest consumer survey, which finds out what non-professionals think about the property market. Right across the UK, people felt local house prices were too high. But despite an average of 48% of consumers expressing this sentiment, only 24.9% expect house prices to fall over the next year.
Even those who intend to sell a property in the next year feel local properties are over-valued, a view expressed by 34.6% of those planning to sell.
In London, the proportion of people who feel house prices are over-valued rose to 60.8%, while in the south-east it stood at 51.7% and in the south-west at 52.7%.
Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: “There is a growing sense that many homes coming on to the UK housing market are priced too high, and this is borne out by the views expressed in this survey.
“We now have a situation where half of the UK public feel house prices are too high, yet three-quarters of the same public are expecting prices to either stay the same or increase over the next 12 months.
“This suggests the prospect of a market stand-off and rising unsold stock levels if sellers don’t wise up to the house price views of their target market.”
