House prices in Scotland are expected to rise by 5% over the course of the year due to a lack of properties entering the market, according to a report.
The latest residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said prices are being driven up as supply fails to meet a rising demand for homes.
The survey found that across the UK, a net balance of 43% more surveyors noted price rises and growth in August.
In Scotland, 28% more members said they expect prices to continue rising over the next three months.
RICS said analysis using Office for National Statistics (ONS) data suggests property values are likely to rise by around 6% across the UK over the course of 2015 and 5% in Scotland.
Sarah Speirs, director of RICS in Scotland, said: "Given current market conditions, the latest data unsurprisingly shows house prices continuing to rise, and at an accelerating pace.
"As the Scottish Government increases investment in initiatives such as Help to Buy, which further stimulates demand while failing to address the critical issue of housing supply, more needs to be done to increase and expand housing supply.
"Despite reported price growth, the agreed sales balance in Scotland edged upwards and demand remains steady, but a more robust recovery in activity is continuing to be held back in part by the lack of stock on the market."
In the lettings market, the study found that 20% of surveyors predict a rise in rents during the next three months.
RICS said demand is outstripping a "modest" upturn in new properties entering the market, sparking concern among some respondents to the survey.
Jonathan Gordon, from letting agent Clan Gordon Limited in Edinburgh, said: "As a regulated and professional property manager we must work to ensure best value for our clients.
"I am becoming concerned, however, at the scale of the rent increases in central Edinburgh and feel these are in danger of becoming unaffordable."
John Gell, from Simply Let, said: "Tenant demand has strengthened while supply has remained static and this is putting upward pressure on rents, with well-presented properties finding tenants quickly."
The Scottish Government recently announced it will bring in rent controls in areas of high pressure.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here