More than four million property investors in the UK are holding onto their cash rather than investing it in real estate, according to a survey by First Direct.

The mortgage lender believes property investors are watching the property market very closely to try and cash in on the cheapest property prices before they start to increase again. According to the survey, prospective investors are holding onto an estimated £20.2bn, which could revitalise the property market, as they wait until they believe that prices have bottomed out.

However, 12% of respondents to the lender’s survey said they doubted they would be able to buy the right property, even at current prices, with Londoners prepared to wait the longest to grapple with the market, compared to other regions.

Meanwhile, 15% of those questioned thought the market could recover by the end of 2009 although a similar proportion were not expecting price rises before 2012.