Survey reveals hope for price falls

A new survey has found that, contrary top perceived wisdom, the majority of Britons do not wish to see house prices rising.

The BBC poll discovered that the largest number of people - 46 per cent - believed the best thing that can happen for the housing market is for prices to remain stable, while the number of people wanting prices to fall outnumbers those hoping for a rise by 28 per cent to 22 per cent.

Ahead of its programme The Truth About Property, the corporation found that the majority of homeowners would not cut back on household spending due to falls in the value of their dwellings, while many of those hoping for price falls are homeowners.

The main reason given for the latter fact is that those who have bought one home want to move up to a larger one due to changes in circumstance such as planning a family.

People still unable to afford to move to a larger home may decide to undertake a renovation of their existing one to enlarge it.

The most recent house price survey published was the Financial Times house price index for April, which revealed a 0.2 per cent drop in prices during the month.


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