A new study claims people in the UK have been over-optimistic about the affordability of property during the last decade's price rises
People in the UK have been over-optimistic about the affordability of property during the last decade's price rises, a survey has suggested.
Research conducted for the BBC's Panorama programme found that 79 per cent of Britons think the country has been unrealistic in its attitude to housing costs.
The survey, which questioned 1,000 people, revealed that despite this, 37 per cent of people are still prepared to stretch their finances in order to afford their own house.
"A lot of people have invested in the market over the last ten years because of the way they've seen it going up, and sort of assumed it is going to keep on going up like that," housing expert Steve Wilcox told the BBC. "Prices go down as well."
However, the study also found that 59 per cent of those polled think the credit crunch is making people "more realistic" about the affordability of houses. Just 15 per cent of respondents said they thought prices would go up, while 78 per cent anticipated either static of falling prices.
Recent figures from Nationwide revealed that house prices fell 2.5 per cent during May. Average prices are now 4.4 per cent lower than they were a year ago.
