British households continued to remain downbeat about their property prices in May, but at a lesser degree compared to the previous month, data from a survey by Knight Frank and Markit Economics showed Friday.
The house price sentiment index rose to 46.3 in May from 45.4 in April, indicating that households were less pessimistic about their home prices. The latest reading was lower than March's 20-month high of 46.6. An index reading below 50 indicates deterioration in sentiment, while one above suggests improvement.
In May, 17 percent of household reported a decline in their home values, while 9.5 percent said prices of their properties increased.
At the same time, the outlook component of the index, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, remained in positive territory for the fourth consecutive month, data showed.
"Despite reporting another month of house price falls in May, households remain confident that the value of their home will rise in future,"Gráinne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said. "In fact households seem to have shrugged off the negative economic news about the UK's double-dip recession and the new problems facing the Eurozone, and the impact these factors could have on house prices, with most regions confident that the value of their home will rise at least modestly over the next 12 months."
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