Investors are looking beyond the current housing market issues and focusing on the solid future of the UK property market, according to an online survey.

Serliana Property Investment Consultants recently surveyed 9000 investors and found that 77 per cent thought property prices would increase over the next five years.

In a market that is hugely affected by confidence, this statistic showed that investors were looking beyond the current issues, fuelled by a lack of liquidity in the economy, and focusing on the strong fundamentals of the UK property market.

Despite the recent fall in house prices, plenty of buyers were still looking to purchase property, and the single most limiting factor was the lack of available mortgage products.

Mortgage demand remained high but the supply has been restricted. Recent Bank of England interest rate cuts barely had an impact on the Labor rate and even less of the savings was passed on by the lender to the consumer.

Participants in the survey ranged from professional investors with multimillion-pound portfolios to the novice investor with one buy to let residential property. Many of those surveyed had been investing for years, understood the market and expected to see an increase in property prices over the next five years. They continued to see residential property investment as a viable source of income for the future and expected to see a return over the long term as opposed to the short term.

A price increase in the next five years would largely depend on the lenders regaining confidence and offering better mortgage products with suitable rates. An increase in lending would eventually lead to an increase in property price.