Remortgage hopeful homeowners are closely watching the housing market and where their equity level may lie the day they decide to move forward on a new deal.  With better equity levels a homeowner is in reach of the best remortgage offerings yet few have seen their equity levels increase over the past few years.  With falling property values in most areas other than London homeowners have had to face the reality of shrinking equity levels. 

House prices are not expected to increase in the coming year.  Instead house prices are forecasted to fall at least another 5 per cent in 2012.  This decline in house prices is going to be hard on the ears of homeowners that have seen their equity levels fall but more so for those that have been nearing negative equity.

The lack of buyers in the market is pushing home sellers to be more assertive in their pricing to close a deal.  The latest information from Hometrack shows that the length of time a property is on the market before selling has increased to 10.2 weeks.  Their data also showed that in January the number of buyers registering with estate agents fell 10.5 per cent from the previous month.

Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, remarked on the data saying “The survey reveals a market dogged by uncertainty. On a national basis house prices have not increased over the last 18 months, since June 2010.

“Overseas buyers looking for a safe haven in the midst of global uncertainty will continue to invest in the capital and the super prime postcodes of central London.”

Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said “We expect house prices to fall by 5 per cent in 2012.

“Despite the recent modest rise in mortgage approvals, the housing market is likely to be increasingly pressurized in 2012 by weakened economic activity, rising unemployment, muted wage growth and very low consumer confidence.”