HOUSE prices are being boosted by a lack of new homes coming up for sale, according to a new report

A survey of its members carried out by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in Scotland has found that most are predicting prices to rise during the next three months because of a shortage of homes on the market.

At the same time, surveyors are also fielding more enquiries from people eager to move into new properties as the effects of the economic downturn wear off and banks open up their coffers to lending, according to the latest RICS Residential Market Survey for March.

Throughout Scotland, the supply versus demand imbalance led to 21 per cent more surveyors reporting rise in house prices during March and 27 per cent more surveyors expecting prices to increase over the next three months.

Overall, the demand for residential property remained steady in Scotland last month, with 11 per cent more surveyors reporting an increase in new buyer enquiries, and nine per cent more surveyors reporting an increase in newly agreed sales during March.

Sarah Speirs, Director RICS Scotland, said: "The initial boost given to the housing market by the Help to Buy scheme has begun to dissipate and activity levels have slipped back.

"The new Land and Building Transaction Tax was implemented at the beginning of April we will monitor the potential impact this has had on all market levels.

"There have been indications of price increases in recent months, as the supply of stock to the market continue to fall. Anecdotal evidence does suggest that election uncertainty and the impact of the drop in oil prices may be having some impact on the market, but underlying the trends visible in the latest survey indicates a very real housing crisis which will urgently need to be addressed by the next UK government."

Northern Ireland continues to outperform the rest of the UK with the strongest house price growth in March and the highest price expectations over the next three months.

However, across much of the rest of the UK, particularly in Wales and Scotland, price gains over the next three months are expected to be much more moderate.

Robbie Buchanan, of surveyors Graham and Sibbald said: "Demand is outstripping supply at present and this has resulted in quicker sales and a modest increase in prices levels for houses."

Estate agents say that their recent analysis of the property market provided a similar picture to he RICS survey, with the lack of new buil properties pushing up prices.

Dr. John Boyle, Director of Research and Strategy at Estate agents Rettie and Co said: "The issue of supply and demand is definitely having an effect on the Scottish property market.

"Our analysis shows that the amount of new homes being built both by the private sector and local authorities is at historically low levels and is around 20,000 less per year than the Scottish Government envisaged.

"This is down to a lack of investment from private investors and austerity spending from local government."

Dr Boyle added that it was too early to say what effect the introduction of the new Scottish Government Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), introduced on April 1, has had.