NW consumer sentiment ‘willing to buy’, says Rightmove

More than 72% of people in the North West surveyed by house sales website Rightmove said now was a good time to buy.

Rightmove's third consumer confidence survey polled up to 37,000 people across the country over a two-week period.

Miles Shipside, commercial director at Rightmove, said: "The sentiment of future buyers is a pre-cursor to a speedier recovery in depressed transaction levels. However, it is also a signal that some of them will be willing to pay a bit more. This will give encouragement to many existing homeowners with borderline equity, but cause concern to a potential buyer hoping their own mortgage ability improves before any significant price uplift."

The survey pointed to the stand-off between buyers and sellers, with only 2% of North West respondents saying it was a good time to sell. A total of 6.1% of those surveyed in the region believed their house price would be down by more than 10% in a year's time, compared to 3.9% who said it would be more than 10%.