The continuing increase in would-be buyers eased off to the lowest point in ten months in the South East during February, as the initial clamour from those previously shut out of the property market started to slow.

The Royal Insitution of Chartered Surveyors said in its February Residential Market Survey that buyer numbers increased at their slowest rate since May 2013 as the surge in demand was levelling off.

It also found that number of homes coming up for sale failed to pick up in the South East with 18 per cent more surveyors seeing a fall rather than rise in new instructions. This is the lowest level since June 2012 and, although buyer demand is starting to slacken, supply is still falling well short of required levels.

It is perhaps unsurprising that activity has been slightly limited in the region with some parts of the South East impacted by flooding and adverse weather conditions. Looking at other areas of the country, the South West in particular appears to have significantly hit both the supply of properties coming up for sale and buyer demand and it remains to be seen what impact the floods will have on local |and regional markets over the coming months.

Moving on to prices, the cost of a home in the region continued to rise during February, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in previous months. Last month 75 per cent more chartered surveyors in the South East saw prices rise rather than fall. Looking at the UK as a whole, the cost of a home has now risen for 11 consecutive months.

Looking ahead, surveyors predict both prices and transaction levels to continue to increase as we enter the summer months where the market traditionally starts to pick up.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, commented: “The growth in buyer numbers that we’ve seen for some months started to slow down in February, as the surge in interest sparked towards the end of last summer began to level off. While this certainly doesn’t mean an end to the increasing activity we’ve been seeing recently, it does suggest that the pent up demand generated throughout the downturn is gradually exhausting itself. One other factor influencing behaviour over the past month may be the weather as rain, wind and, in particular, floods tend to mean fewer people are willing to actually get out there and view houses.

“The ongoing issue that we are facing, however, is the lack of homes coming onto the market. Yes, it is true that more and more are being built, but supply is simply not enough properties to satisfy demand. As a result, prices are likely to continue to move higher making it ever harder for people to take an initial step onto the property ladder.”