Rightmove just released the results of their consumer confidence survey – 78% of people now feel that UK house prices will not fall any further over the next year.

Take this in the context of the recent Nationwide figures, where property prices have actually risen 3.2% in 2009, then it certainly looks like we’ve hit the bottom (yawn).

However, when dealing with property values, you can never underestimate confidence – as it’s what helps to drive the market. Once people believe that the property falls are over and prices may actually start to rise then a new sense urgency comes into play that they may miss out. Remember the two great drivers of market forces – fear and greed.
Let’s face it, this is what allows the estate agents (with their big ties) to look you in the face and tell you truthfully that if you don’t put an offer in today then someone else will buy tomorrow. Hmm, maybe it’s not such a good thing after all.

Self Cert mortgages – just 2% of the market.

Another report this week by Evaluate Technologies says that self certification mortgages now account for just 2% of mortgage deals available (and even that figure seems high to me).

As I reported a few weeks back, the self-employed who relied on self certification mortgages are definitely one of the main casualties of the mortgage squeeze. Until more of these products are released, many people will be stuck with their current mortgages and houses unable to move until new self cert mortgages with higher loan to values are available. It could even start to happen to buy to let mortgage products.