Homeowners confident house prices will rise Mr Ellis said: "We continue to expect little overall movement in prices this year, provided that the UK economy does not suffer a pronounced weakening." The increase in confidence comes despite expectations that the availability of mortgages will decrease in the coming months. Lenders have been tightening their credit criteria, leading to a drop in the proportion of mortgage approvals, while more than a million homeowners will see their mortgage rates rise from May 1, some 850,000 of them Halifax customers. Lenders have blamed the rises on the weak economy and the increased cost of funding a mortgage. The latest Halifax study also found that 55pc of those surveyed believe it is a good time to buy a property, more than double the proportion who said it is a good time to sell, at 24pc. Nearly two-thirds of people said job security was the main hurdle to potential homebuyers, while raising a deposit was the second biggest constraint. Seven out of 10 people predicted that private rents will also increase over the next 12 months, as would-be buyers remain "trapped" in the rental sector, keeping rental demand strong. The survey questioned 2,029 adults across Britain.