UK home sales highest for six years, says Rics
The number of homes on the market has failed to match demand The number of UK homes sold per surveyor has more than doubled since the depth of the housing market downturn, a survey suggests.
Just over 21 sales per estate agency branch were recorded in the final three months of 2013, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said.
This was the highest number since March 2008, and up from 9.8 in January 2009.
The survey found surveyors expected prices and sales to keep rising.
Supply shortageRising prices - which have been a feature of recent months - have mainly been the result of more buyers chasing the relatively few homes on the market.
"Unless we see a marked increase in the number of homes coming up for sale we could well be looking at a price rises becoming unsustainable in some areas," said Peter Bolton King, global residential director at Rics.
A number of commentators have predicted average price rises of between 4% and 8% in the UK in 2014.
The latest house price survey from the Office for National Statistics showed that year-on-year property price growth stood at 5.4% in the UK in November.
Excluding London and the south east of England, the ONS said prices were up by 3.1%.
The Bank of England has recently pulled back from offering cheaper funds for lenders to hand on in mortgages through the Funding for Lending scheme.
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