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Property market stifled by lack of available homes13th February 2014

Property market stifled by lack of available homesFigures from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' January Residential Market Survey have revealed that future growth for the UK's housing market is being blocked by a nationwide shortage of homes, which in turn is pushing up prices in some areas.

Demand from potential buyers has so far not been matched by vendor numbers, although the Spring market "bounce" could redress the balance. But in the meantime, the number of houses coming on the market during January has hit its lowest point since Juy 2012 and house prices have continued to rise.

The survey showed that the number of homes sold per chartered surveyor reached 21.1* over the preceding three months. Although historically relatively low, this represents a sizable increase on the same time last year when respondents were selling a mere 16.

Across the UK, the biggest increases in activity have been seen in the South West and Yorkshire and Humberside where sales numbers jumped 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively since January 2013.

Peter Bolton King, RICS Global Residential Director, said: “It's no secret that we are seeing prices go up in many parts of the country, driven largely by the lack of properties coming onto the market. With more people now in a position to buy a home than at any point over the past few years, there are simply not enough properties to satisfy demand. The upshot of this is increasing prices in many areas and this looks set to continue for the foreseeable future."


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