PFL in the News
14th December 2007
What investors say
Richard Donnell, director of Research for Hometrack, believes the cut in interest rates will provide a much needed boost to confidence in the housing market.
Chairman of Acadametrics, Dr Peter Williams, expects 2008 to be a challenging year, making house price predictions particularly difficult. However, he does anticipate house prices to decelerate next year, reflecting a modest market correction.
In Property For Life's (PFL) monthly investor confidence tracker for November, two-thirds of its investors anticipate that base rates will decrease over the next year. Three-quarters of the investors believe now is a good time to invest in property. PFL's managing director, David Austin, comments: "Serious property investors are extremely market savvy. They realise that the housing market is going to have a slower year in 2008, with less than half respondents predicting price increases. As a result, investors are keen to buy before prices go back up, despite having felt the pinch on their finances in recent months."
As at 26 November, more investors in Britain are putting their money in the stock market with 90 per cent of active investors (people who have traded in the past 12 months) now owning shares. This statement is from TD Waterhouse's UK's 2007 investor confidence index annual survey.
The survey also revealed that 33 per cent of its investors think that investor confidence has been dented by market jitters, despite the increased activity. Angus Rigby, chief executive of TD Waterhouse says: "For the first time, property was not seen as the top performing sector." Some 66 per cent of the respondents' investment style was not influenced by investment adages. Those 11 per cent of investors who were swayed by sayings adopted the saying: "Let the trend be your friend and follow it to the end". In helping them to decide what shares to buy, 56 per cent of investors use the internet, 48 per cent use the financial press, 34 per cent use a broker and 32 per cent rely on company reports and other literature. Investors expect the FTSE 100 to rise, but not to reach 7,000 by January 2008.
