House prices in England and Wales remained buoyant in the three months to end-November, with little sign buyers were deterred by the Bank of England's 25-basis point interest rate rise on November 6th, a report says.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said today that a balance of 35 per cent of its members saw house prices rise in the three months to the end of November, unchanged from October.
October's positive balance was revised downwards to 35 per cent from an originally reported 38 per cent.
Tight housing supply combined with robust demand as a result of a strong jobs market were cited as a key factor behind the price rise.
While buyers' enquiries held up despite higher interest rates, the number of sellers continued to fall due to recent strong gains in house prices.
"The slight interest rate rise in November, and talk of rising trend doesn't seem to have put off buyers or sellers," Mr Ian Perry, RICS housing spokesman said.
"Every one seems confident that more property will come onto the market in the New Year, but intense competition will remain if this is accompanied by an increase in sales activity."
By November, the stock of unsold properties were 12 per cent down from August, with available property now at the lowest level since June 2002.
The fastest increases in prices were seen in the north of England, the West Midlands and Wales. London house prices also strengthened following a weak market through much of 2003 - which was caused by economic uncertainty at the start of the year when Britain went to war in Iraq.