Asking prices across the UK are going up this new year, and discounting is at a four-year low.

The generally cheery picture comes from property portal Home, which says there is a general air of optimism despite a continuing shortage of properties on the market – and is being corroborated by a number of agents.

Jeremy Leaf, an agent in north London, said that those who had predicted a slowdown are being proved wrong, with the market proving “much stronger than expected”.

He said: “We’re getting inquiries from buyers and sellers, and there’s interest from house builders – and that means long-term confidence because many of those homes won’t come on the market for a year or two.

“So, the reality on the ground is that the market is much better than we’d expected.”

Leaf says that Stamp Duty Land Tax changes have made people feel positive.

Leaf operates outside prime central London, where the SDLT changes announced last month are expected to adversely impact on high-priced properties.

According to Home, even without the reforms there have already been “alarming” price falls in prime central London: prices of flats are now down by 9% compared with this time a year ago, while the supply of apartments has risen by 64% over the same period.

Home said that, apart from this “dark cloud on the horizon”, asking prices so far this month have risen in seven English regions in England and Wales, with falls only in East Anglia and Scotland.

And despite falling asking prices in prime central London, the biggest price growth within the last month has been across Greater London.

Home also said that supply of property for sale in Greater London is up 20% and by 4% across the UK compared with a year ago.

However, estate agents’ stock is still very low. Home says that the total number of properties currently for sale in England and Wales is just 458,112, only 1.5% higher than the record low set in March last year.

Home says that low supply will continue to be a key driver this year.

Home also warns that the price correction seen in prime central London could spread across Greater London and the south-east over the course of the next two years.

This would be as a result of the other “dark cloud on the horizon”– the effects of possible changes in property taxes and the introduction of rent capping.

Doug Shephard, director at Home, said: “Optimism is still riding high in the rest of the country, but it comes as a shock to many to learn that prices are crumbling in the most expensive streets in London.

“My cab drivers certainly didn’t know of this during a recent trip to the capital.

“Prices in central London went up too far, too fast, during 2012-2013.

“The questions to be answered are: When will the price falls stop in central London? And will those hefty price corrections (of up to 20% so far) ripple out?”