Platform has reported that the majority of intermediaries are optimistic about the year ahead, while the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) expects the recovery in the housing market to slow in 2010.

In its first ever Intermediary Outlook Survey, Platform says 66% of intermediaries believe that business will be better this year, in comparison to 2009, buoyed by the general belief (74%) of the sector that house prices will rise by up to 5% in 2010.

Also 74% believe that interest rates will rise by a maximum of 0.5 percentage points to 1% by the end of the year.

This contrasts with the views of AMI, which in its first quarterly economic bulletin of 2010, paints a more pessimistic picture.

Robert Sinclair, director of AMI said: “Although the recovery is now underway