With 58% of property investors expecting house prices to rise over the coming 12 months, confidence once again appears to be returning to bricks and mortar as a secure investment according to property investment company, The Worldwide Property Group.
In their monthly survey of property investors, more than half of the respondents said they expected house prices to increase whilst just 18% expected a further fall.
The Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates at historically low levels appears to be having a positive effect in building confidence with 65% saying that they are feeling the benefit of lower rates, 61% revealing that the low interest rate has increased their desire to invest in property and a huge 78% believing that now is a great time to invest in UK residential property.
The survey also revealed that the general expectation was for interest rates to rise over the coming year with nearly two thirds of respondents predicting an increase of between 0.5% and 1%.
Interestingly the draw of investing in far flung destinations also remains high with 72% believing that now is a good time to buy property overseas. A massive 66% are currently considering buying abroad in the next year with the most favoured destinations for property investment being, The Caribbean, USA, Turkey, Portugal and Spain.
Kevin Wilkes, managing Director of The Worldwide Property Group said: “This survey shows that confidence in the property market is considerably higher than most people have come to expect. With an increasing shortage of housing in the UK, and overseas tourism expected to rise dramatically over the coming years, investors are wisely putting their faith into property both at home and abroad”.
