Estate agents recorded the highest level of applicants in December for ten years, the NAEA has reported. However, this morning, Nationwide said there has been a fall-off in new buyer inquiries.

According to the NAEA, the lift in buyer interest followed the reforms to Stamp Duty Land Tax announced by the Chancellor.

The average number of applicants registered per branch was 360 last month – the highest since December 2004 when 360 applicants were also recorded.

However, inventory was very low at just 45 properties per branch – down from 50 in November and 47 in December 2013.

With lack of supply a key issue, the average office had five sales in December, down from eight in November.

NAEA managing director Mark Hayward said: “While demand is particularly high at present, owing to the recent changes, the fact that we have not seen supply immediately increase following the reforms is not really surprising.”

However, he said such a high level of demand was unusual for a December.

He said: “We would hope to see the new reforms eventually balance the see-saw of supply and demand, so it will be interesting to monitor the true impact over the course of the next few months.”

The NAEA market report is here

Meanwhile, Nationwide this morning reported a slight drop in house prices for this month, down to £188,446 from £188,559 in December.

Despite the fall, the lender insisted that on a seasonally adjusted basis, house prices had risen 0.3% since the start of the year.

Unlike the NAEA, Nationwide referred to “subdued levels of new buyer inquiries”.

The lender said: “The reasons for the slowdown in activity remain unclear.  Unemployment has continued to decline and wage growth has started to outstrip increases in the cost of living for the first time since the financial crisis. Surveys suggest that consumer confidence remains elevated – a view corroborated by healthy gains in retail sales over recent months.

“Although house price growth continues to outpace income growth by a significant margin, affordability does not appear stretched at a national level. The cost of servicing a typical mortgage remains close to the long run average as a share of take home pay, in part thanks to the ultra-low level of mortgage rates.

“Supply side developments are crucial in determining the pace of price growth. Surveyors continue to report a dearth of new homes coming on to the market, which may help to explain why house price growth has remained fairly robust, despite a more noticeable decline in housing demand since the summer.”