82% of brokers expect the buy-to-let market to continue to strengthen during 2015, according to a survey by Dragonfly Property Finance.

The survey of 200 UK-based brokers, also found that 74% believe average UK property prices will finish the year higher than they were at the end of last year, as the economy continues to improve.

They believe the property market will continue to rise despite a degree of resistance from the new mortgage rules introduced last year. 53% of brokers believe the Mortgage Market Review will have an adverse effect on property finance in the short to medium-term.

Finally, broker attitudes to alternative property finance have improved sharply over the past year. 70% of brokers said they were more comfortable arranging short- and medium-term loans for their clients than they were 12 months ago.

“Although they believe the new mortgage rules will make for a slightly more conservative lending environment, overall there’s a lot of confidence in the market right now,” said Mark Posniak (pictured), head of sales and marketing at Dragonfly Property Finance.

“Brokers, quite clearly, are backing buy-to-let to outperform during 2015 and believe that the broader residential market will also continue to rise. What’s also encouraging is that more than two thirds of brokers are now much more comfortable with alternative property finance — this demonstrates exactly how much this area of the market has matured in recent years.”