UK consumers predict house price increases in 2010
Despite the fact that more and more analysts are becoming concerned about the fragile nature of the UK economic upturn, over 50% of UK consumers believe that property prices will increase in 2010. This prompts the question as to whether this possibly "unjust" optimism could backfire and push us back into recession or could this be the catalyst for a strong recovery in the UK economy?
The truth is that consumer confidence is a vital element of any economic upturn but this will need to be backed up, at some point, by the financial sector and the UK banking arena. So far we have seen little return to competition in the UK mortgage market, loan market or credit card market which would indicate that consuming credit could be difficult to obtain in the short to medium term. As a consequence, if consumers are disappointed in their quest for credit this could force an about turn in consumer confidence and build up more problems for the UK economy in the short to medium term.
All of the pieces of the jigsaw for a UK economic upturn need to come together at the same time but this could be very difficult to arrange!
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