Real estate pessimism takes hold
More home-movers believe house prices will drop in the next year than those who believe they will go up, according to a survey due out today. Rightmove’s quarterly consumer confidence survey, which polls more than 25,000 home-movers, shows the pessimists outnumber the optimists for the first time since the survey began. A year ago, those believing that prices would be higher in 12 months time outnumbered those that believed prices would be lower, by 5 to 1. But in the latest survey 32 per cent believed prices would slump, while 27 per cent thought they would go up. Just over a third (36 per cent) thought prices would remain the same. Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “When sentiment is split as it is, or when there is no clear and prevailing view, a typical reaction from potential home-movers is “no action”.