Property listings climbed just 1.9% this month, while the number of new applicants went up by 6.6%, with strong sales volumes eroding the stock of homes for sale.

Hometrack reported this morning that the small monthly uplift in agents’ inventory compares with an 11.2% monthly rise in February.

The property data specialist said house prices were up by an average of 0.6% in March, with a 14% rise in the number of sales agreed, and time on the market down to 7.9 weeks.

Half of all postcodes had house price increases, and just 0.2% had decreases.

Hometrack also said that buyers were paying the highest percentage of asking prices (96%) since 2004 because of demand out-stripping supply. In London, buyers are paying almost 100% of asking prices.

Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said: “Much has been made of the impact of Help to Buy, but the overall volumes of sales supported by the scheme remain relatively small.

“The real driver of higher house prices is record low mortgage rates and strong demand from first-time buyers and investors who have no property to sell which is compounding scarcity.”

Hometrack is predicting further price rises in the coming months.