London house prices will continue to grow even if the UK leaves the EU, say homeowners
Parts of London's property market might be stumbling, but that's not stopping the capital's homeowners being the most confident people in the country that Brexit would not affect their house prices.
Foolhardy? Maybe. But according to a new survey, London's homeowners expect to see double-digit growth in their property prices over the next six months – up 12.5 per cent – the most bullish forecast in the country.
The UK as a whole is feeling pretty buoyant though. The Zoopla survey found that 92 per cent of homeowners expect the value of their house or flat to rise in the next six months. The average expected increase is 8.8 per cent.
Regionally, homeowners in the East of England and South East England are most confident, with 96 per cent apiece expecting the value of homes in their area to rise, while 94 per cent of Londoners said the same.
But there are growing fears about the challenge of getting a mortgage. Nearly a third (32 per cent) believe it is now harder to get approval for a mortgage than it was six months ago, up six percentage points from when the survey was last taken in October last year.
Lawrence Hall, spokesperson for Zoopla, said: “Despite uncertainty around the upcoming EU referendum, this does not appear to have knocked consumer confidence levels.
"As you'd imagine, those who live in areas that have seen the most marked property value increases over the past few years, such as London, the East of England, and the South East, have the most confidence in further value rises over the coming months.
“What is slightly surprising is the number of homeowners that believe it is now more difficult to secure a mortgage rising to a third from a quarter last year, despite historically low mortgage rates. This could indicate that the supply of low mortgage rates could be about to reduce as lenders try to pre-empt the Bank of England’s movements regarding the base rate.”