Housing market silver linings

Tremors in the mortgage and property markets have failed to deter house-hunters with 44 per cent admitting they still planned to invest.

A survey of over 300 house-hunters by advice website HotProperty.co.uk revealed a high proportion of potential home-buyers had not lost their confidence in the market, despite mortgage-lending conditions tightening and house price growth slowing.

HotProperty said it had not expected such positive results from the survey, but admitted it had seen traffic to its website reach record highs in January showing there were still lots of people looking for property, even if they were holding off buying.

Shawn Luetchens, managing director of the website, said: "Given the more negative reports that we have seen recently, it is encouraging to see such a high proportion of home-hunters are still willing to invest in property.

"However, we cannot ignore the fact the majority have been put off by the current market. There is still a way to go before we see confidence levels fully restored."

And while house price indexes, such as Nationwide's released today, show average prices are starting to dip, there is still further evidence that some areas remain as lucrative as ever for property investment.

New data by SmartNewHomes.com reveals average prices in London have risen over the last three months by 21.6 per cent. Its research shows the average price of a new home in the capital in December was £411,981 – a huge £53,801 higher than in October 2007.

David Bexon, managing director of SmarthNewHomes, said: "Demand is still strong among the capital's buyers, many of whom are in full employment and have considerable equity in their existing properties."