People buying houses in the UK are said to be paying nearly 97% of the seller’s asking price.
This is the highest average percentage in almost 12 years, according to property analyst Hometrack in its report for April.
Hometrack said that demand for houses is continuing to grow at a faster pace than the number being put up for sale. This is forcing up house prices.
Currently it takes an average of just six weeks to sell a property. This is the quickest time frame since before the meltdown in June 2007.
Recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed that London house values surged by 17.7% during 2013 to reach an average of £458,000. Across the UK as a whole there was a 9.1% annual increase.
Properties have continued to become more expensive since then, growing on average 0.6% in March and by the same percentage again in April in England and Wales.
The biggest increases were seen, as ever, in London and the South West (0.8%) and the lowest in North East (0.2%).
But Hometrack said it has seen signs that people are becoming slightly more resistant to rocketing London prices. In April it took 3.5 weeks to sell a London house against the previous 2.5 weeks earlier.
The proportion of the average asking price achieved in London has also edged down by 0.3 percentage points compared with a month ago to 99%.
New lending rules now force mortgage seekers to answer detailed questions about their personal spending habits and pass a 'stress test' to see if they can continue to repay when interest rates go up. The impact this might have on the housing market is not yet known.
