Homebuyers paying for delaying

Homebuyers are facing a dilemma over whether to buy property now or wait in the hope that prices will fall.

One in five people are playing the waiting game, hoping for a downturn in house prices because they feel they are currently overpriced, new research shows.

But three quarters of homebuyers say prices have increased while they waited, according to a survey for Alliance & Leicester Mortgages.

And this wait has cost them, with prices rising by £33,689 over an average wait of three years and ten months for homebuyers who have delayed buying.

For a fifth of ponderous homebuyers, the price of the property they had their eye on went up by over £50,000.

Over three quarters of homebuyers think properties are overpriced and 15 per cent are waiting and hoping for a fall – of which a third are prepared to wait over five years.

But recent history shows that waiting this long can be very costly, as five years ago the average house price was £101,550, according to government figures, compared with £189,852 now.

"The research highlights that some homebuyers are playing the waiting game to see if house prices will fall," said Stephen Leonard, director of mortgages at Alliance & Leicester.

He added: "It remains to be seen whether waiting will pay off going forward."