Confidence among British households regarding the value of their homes rebounded in April, ending the downward trend seen for nearly three years, helped mainly by improved optimism regarding the governments' recently launched mortgage scheme, data from a survey by Markit Economics and Knight Frank showed Friday.
The house price sentiment index increased to 50.6 in April from 50 in March. The index moved above the no-change 50 mark - which separates growth from contraction - for the first time in thirty-four months.
"The latest survey suggests the Help to Buy scheme has boosted house price sentiment, alongside a continued improvement in mortgage availability and more concrete signs that current values are on the up," Markit senior economist Tim Moore said.
At the same time, the outlook component of the survey, showed that British households expect the value of their homes will rise over the next 12 months, and at the sharpest rate since June 2010.
The forward-looking indicator climbed to a 34-month high of 62 in April from 58.4 in March, marking the fourth successive increase. Residents of London continued to be the most upbeat about the outlook for prices, followed by those in South East and the East of England, data showed.
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