Homeowners no longer so worried about negative equity as soaring house prices become the 'national concern'
04-08-2014
By Matt West
A majority of homeowners are now more worried about surging house prices than being caught in negative equity, a poll released today has found.
Consumer group the HomeOwners' Alliance found fears that property was becoming unaffordable were spreading across the country.
Prospective homeowners in 10 out of the 12 UK regions said accelerating house prices and the scarcity of homes for people to choose from had become a 'national issue'.
National issue: Most people now believe accelerating house prices have become a national issue of concern
The survey of more than 2,500 people - both existing homeowners and people who do not own a property - found it is not just London or the South where spiralling house values are causing concern.
The HomeOwners' Alliance said more people think house prices are a 'very serious issue' compared with those who are concerned about their home losing so much value that they are stuck in negative equity in every region except the North East and Northern Ireland.
Two fifths (39 per cent) of people cited accelerating house prices as the most serious housing issue, compared to 25 per cent of people who raise concerns about negative equity and 33 per cent who cite the lack of housing available to buy.
Just over half (52 per cent) raised fears over the return of 1980s style gazumping.
The Homeowners' Alliance said the housing crisis is 'most acute in London'.
The capital is the area in the UK where people are the most concerned both about house prices and housing availability, with 55 per cent and 44 per cent of Londoners voicing concerns over these issues respectively.
Northern Ireland is the area where people are most concerned about negative equity, with almost half (47 per cent) of people there highlighting it as a very serious issue.
The survey comes less than a week after two housing market surveys found property values continued to accelerate last month.
Nationwide building society’s monthly house price index found property values had jumped by £16,000 in the year to March.
In London, property values leapt by 18.2 per cent on average in the year to March. It means the average property in London is now worth £360,000, double the average property value for the rest of the UK.
Back to the future: London house prices stand 20 per cent higher than their boom-time peak, but in most regions property is still under water.
Meanwhile, Halifax found house prices had increased by 8.7 per cent across the UK in the year to March, rising by £14,000 in the period from £164,000 to £178,000 - the biggest increase since before the financial crisis.
In both reports, however, there was evidence of a slowdown in the rate at which property values were rising. Nationwide said house prices in March rose at their slowest pace since June 2013.
And Halifax said property values actually fell 1.1 per cent in March compared with February.
Critics of government support schemes such as Help to Buy which have made it easier for people with small deposits to buy their first home or move up the property ladder, have repeatedly warned of the dangers of a housing bubble.
Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners' Alliance, said: ‘Despite talk about the London bubble, worries about high house prices and the shortage of housing have become a national issue.
‘Talk about the housing crisis has spread across the UK as homeowners everywhere have become worried that housing is becoming unaffordable and owning their own home is becoming an impossible dream for young people.’
She added: ‘The surge in house prices this past year is not welcome news in the capital and it is a growing worry in other parts of the country, particularly for those hoping to buy their first home.
‘Rising prices in London and elsewhere are due to a lack of supply as competition is fierce among buyers chasing too few homes,’ she added.