‘Over-valued’ homes look set to stay that way

Around 25 per cent of people think house prices will drop during the coming year, down from 32 per cent who were expecting them to slide further when the same research was carried out during the first quarter of the year, according to property website Rightmove.co.uk.

Instead, 40 per cent of people think prices will be broadly unchanged 12 months from now, the seventh consecutive quarter during which the proportion of people expecting there to be no change has increased.

But despite predicting house prices will be stable during the coming year, 48 per cent of people said they thought property in their area was over-valued, rising to 66 per cent among first-time buyers.

People in London were most likely to think house prices were too high at 61 per cent, followed by those in the South West at 53 per cent and those in the South East at 52 per cent.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “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.”