Confidence in the UK housing market remains strong, despite the public having jitters about the wider economy, according to Halifax’s latest confidence tracker.

House price optimism in the final quarter of 2015 continued to show that a majority of people believe that average UK property prices will be higher rather than lower 12 months from now.

A significant minority of 13% reckon that house prices will be at least 10% higher.

Conversely, the number of people who believe that Britain’s general economic conditions will improve over the next 12 months has plummeted during the same period.

Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at Halifax, explained: “Solid economic growth, rising real earnings and falls in already very low mortgage rates are all stimulating housing. At the same time, there is an increasingly acute imbalance between supply and demand, which is causing property prices to rise at a robust pace.

“This situation, which is unlikely to reverse significantly in the short-term, is reflected in the public’s continuing high levels of optimism regarding house price growth over the coming 12 months.”

Ready to sell

There has been a small rise in positive selling sentiment since the last quarter, with 55% of people thinking the next 12 months will be a good time to sell. By contrast, there has been a drop in the proportion who expect it to be a bad time to sell, down three points in the same period, to 29% now.

Positive buying sentiment has increased marginally, with 54% saying now is also a good time to buy.

However, deposits are still seen as the main barrier to buying a home, with 37% identifying this as a major problem, now that average UK house prices stand at £208,286.

Job security, or insecurity, is the number two barrier, cited by 42%.