More signs of housing slowdown

More signs that the UK housing market is cooling have emerged from a property survey by the Yorkshire Bank.

The study found that one in 10 homeowners were planning to cut back spending plans as the war in Iraq has knocked their confidence in the economic outlook.

About half the respondents expected the value of their home to rise over the next 12 months, compared with two-thirds in the previous survey conducted at the beginning of the year.

In another sign that the housing boom may be ending, fewer people said they would resort to gazumping - trumping an already agreed offer - in order to buy a property.

Uncertainty hits confidence

A number of recent housing surveys have suggested that the rise in UK house prices is finally beginning to slow.

The latest studies have noted that prices in the north of England are currently showing the biggest rises, while property values in London and the south east of England are rising more moderately and, in some cases, falling.

The head of the Yorkshire Bank, Geoff Greer, said the situation in Iraq had not helped matters.

"The uncertainty around the situation in the Middle East has people feeling less confident about job security and the outlook for both the UK and indeed the world economy long-term," Mr Greer said.

"Our latest survey shows significantly fewer people anticipate a pay rise or promotion is on the cards to allow them to scale up the size of their property."

Changing attitudes

Over the past three months, the percentage of those people worried that the value of their house might fall has doubled to 14%.

Potential buyers are also getting less aggressive, with the proportion of those prepared to gazump in order to get a property falling from 11% to 7%.

"This downturn in the number of people prepared to resort to gazumping appears to be a reflection of a shift in people's attitudes to the property market," Mr Greer said.

"There is now less pressure to have to immediately leap in offering over the asking price or resort to doing the dirty on their fellow buyers to avoid missing out."