Five buyers chasing every property

There are five potential buyers chasing every property on the market as demand continues to outstrip supply, research has shown.

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) said its members had an average of five househunters registered with them for every property they had on their books during October.

But the high level of demand failed to translate into increased sales during the month, with estate agents selling an average of 7.7 properties each, down from 8.5 in September.

There was also a slight reduction in potential buyers, with estate agents reporting a dip in the number of househunters on their books to 287, down from 294 in September. The decline is in line with reports from other surveys which have shown that the rate at which new buyers are entering the market may be slowing.

It has been suggested that this, combined with more people putting their properties up for sale, may help to ease the current mis-match between supply and demand, which has forced up house prices in recent months. But there were few signs of more properties coming on to the market during October, with estate agents seeing their average stock levels dip to 57 per branch, the lowest level since July 2007 and down from 62 in September.

Gary Smith, president of the NAEA, said: "There is strong demand for property and more optimism in the housing market than we have seen for months. This is good news for the recovery of the market and for the UK economy in general.