Scottish home owners believe house prices will boom this year

0 Confidence is returning to the housing market, with most home owners expecting prices to rise Home owners’ confidence in the property market has been boosted, with a new survey suggesting almost nine in ten Scots expect the price of their real estate to climb this year.

Some 87 per cent of Scottish home owners expect property values in their area to increase over the coming six months – up from 70 per cent when similar research was carried out in November.

Across Britain, only one in 12 (8 per cent) of people in the latest survey carried out by property website Zoopla expect prices to fall in their area over the next six months.

On average, those Scots expecting price rises predicted an 8.6 per cent uplift over the coming six months – an increase compared with the November study, when the typical expectation across Britain was 4.9 per cent.

Home owners in the East Midlands and east of England are the most optimistic about their local property market, with 93 per cent and 90 per cent respectively predicting house price rises over the next six months.

Zoopla spokesman Lawrence Hall said: “It’s encouraging to see a bounce back in consumer confidence in the market. It’s the largest increase we’ve seen since 2016.

“This shows that home owners are starting to regain their confidence in the property market.”

North-east England is the least confident region, with just under two-thirds (63 per cent) expecting rises, although this remains a big increase for the region compared with November when less than half (41 per cent) thought values in their area would increase.

London was the next least confident region, with just over three-quarters (76 per cent) of home owners expecting prices to rise in their area.

The findings were released after another property website, Rightmove, reported this week that the average price tag on a home reached a record high of £308,075 on average in May. However, Rightmove warned the housing market was becoming “increasingly price-sensitive”.

The website also said different property markets were still operating at different speeds.

Zoopla found that when it comes to how much home owners think prices will increase by, those in the West Midlands were the most confident, predicting values in their area would rise by 10.6 per cent over the next six months on average. The East Midlands are the next most confident, expecting growth of 9.2 per cent.

More than 1,950 home owners were surveyed.