Increase in property supply fails to halt rising prices

A modest increase in the number of properties coming up for sale is having little effect on the housing market as prices continue to rise, according to the RICS UK Housing Market survey published earlier this week.

For the sixth consecutive month, more chartered surveyors are reporting that the number of new instructions of houses for sale is increasing rather than falling.

However, demand is still outstripping supply with 28% more surveyors stating that enquiries from potential purchasers are rising rather than falling. This figure is slightly down on previous months, but still indicates strong interest from buyers.

However transaction volumes are the lowest for a number of years.