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Some 84% of British homeowners expect property prices in their area to rise over the next six months, up 14% from November 2017, according to Zoopla.

Its ‘Housing Market Sentiment’ survey found that property prices are expected to rise by 6.9% in the respondents' areas over the same period, up from 4.9% in November 2017 - the largest increase in consumer confidence since the first half of 2016.

House prices fell during the first three months of the year, with the average cost of a dwelling in the UK tumbling by more than £7,000 in April, according to the latest figures from Halifax.

The data provides further evidence of a housing market slowdown, revealing prices have plummeted by 3.1% between March and April 2018 and by 0.1% over the first quarter of the year.

What’s more there is evidence of low confidence among consumers, whose optimism in the market is at a five year low, said Halifax.

Annual house price growth increased by 0.5% to 2.6% in April 2018, Nationwide’s House Price Index has revealed.

This represented an increase from 2.1% in the year to March, after prices increased by 0.2% from March to April.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “In recent years, we have seen a recovery in first time buyer transactions, which are now broadly in line with pre-crisis levels.

“The easing in credit availability, including schemes such as Help to Buy, have helped boost activity.

Up to a third of young people face living in private rented accommodation all their lives, a new report by the Resolution Foundation has found.

The think tank said 40% of "millennials" - those born between 1980 and 1996 - were living in rented housing by the age of 30.

That was twice as many as "generation X" - those born between 1965 and 1980.

The government said it was already putting policies in place to improve the housing market.

The average two-year fixed rate mortgage has increased for the second month in a row, reaching the highest point seen since September 2016, according to new Moneyfacts data.

Average two-year fixed rates have risen from 2.32% in April 2017 to 2.43% today - just one basis point lower than the 2.44% recorded in September 2016.

Moneyfacts says this increase in rates could be due to the withdrawal of products from the 60% LTV sector, which have fallen below 500 for the first time since September 2016, reaching 495 today.

The mortgage market remained volatile in February, according to the Bank of England, as its latest lending data showed a drop in approvals.
Encouragingly, lending value continued its annual growth of 3.3% last month with total volumes hitting £22.2bn – slightly below January’s figure of £22.8bn.

However, the Bank of England recognised that the current mortgage market was jittery.

There was a 20% increase in sellers listing their properties last month, according to research carried out by online estate agents HouseSimple.com.

This follows a 40% boost in new supply in January.

The latest Property Supply Index from HouseSimple, which looks at the number of new properties listed by estate agents across 100 major UK towns and cities, shows that total new estate agent listings rose from 56,041 in January to 67,182 last month. However, comparing February 2018 with February 2017, the number of new sellers coming onto the market was just 2.5% higher.

Values tumbled by 0.7% on a quarterly basis, but edged up by 0.4% month on month, the lender’s data showed.

House prices are now sitting at an average £224,353.

Low mortgage rates and a lack of supply are helping to underpin the housing market, according to Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax.

He said: “House prices continue to remain broadly flat, as they have since the end of last year.

“Despite the November rise in the Bank of England Base Rate, mortgage rates continue to stay low by historical standards.

Accord Mortgages has reported that first-time buyers are fixing their mortgage for longer than they did 12 months ago.

The number of applications the lender received for five-year fixes from first-time buyers has more than doubled year-on-year, with 51% of all first-time buyer applications being for longer term deals last month compared to 20% in January 2017.

A drop in UK house prices on a similar scale to that seen in the financial crisis would put nearly half a million households at risk of negative equity, Computershare Loan Services has warned.