Average UK house prices have jumped 6.2% in a year, Halifax claimed in its latest index.
Reporting for September, Halifax said house prices were 0.3% up on August and 2% up over the quarter, to stand at an average £170,733.
Halifax economist Martin Ellis said: “Housing demand has risen more quickly than supply in recent months, putting upward pressure on prices.”
He added: “There are signs that supply is beginning to respond to the pick-up in demand, which if continued should help to constrain the upward pressure on prices.”
The Halifax claim of an increase in supply makes reference to anecdotal evidence from the RICS.
Although a seasonal rise in new property listings in September would hardly be surprising, numbers are currently hard to quantify.
Rightmove said in its latest report that new seller numbers were down by 9% over the previous period.
It measured just 96,330 properties coming to the market, the lowest total since February.
However, while the Rightmove report was labelled as being for September, it in fact covers the period from August 11 to September 7.
A better indicator of more recent activity might be from boards firm Agency Express. This week it said new listings in September increased markedly across much of Britain – for example, by 44.9% in London, 14.3% in the South-East and 19.5% in the North-West.
Regions with more modest rises of new listings last month include the Midlands, up 10.9%, and East Anglia, up 7.5%.
Agency Express also said that sales, measured by boards converting to Sold, also rose nationally by 17.2%. The rise seems to have been driven by performances in three key areas, with sales up by 23.6% in the South-East, 21.4% in the South-West and 26.5% in London.
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