New instructions fell for a third successive month in June, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The RICS found that a scarcity of new properties coming onto the market was putting upwards pressure on house prices, as buyer demand remains high.

Buyer enquiries were positive for the fourth month in row, and agreed sales picked up this month.

Most surveyors noted a rise in property prices, with many citing that the lack of supply was keeping prices high.

Neil Foster of Foster Maddison Property Consultants, said: “Vendor reluctance to engage with the market is seeing stock levels fall to unbelievably low levels and, consequently, buyers are competing for available property and driving price inflation.”

Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, added: “Panic buyers have been clearing the shelves at the estate agents again. The number of new properties for sale fell for the third month running, so although buyers have come to the market more slowly, there are still plenty of them to ensure any promising new property is snapped up overnight. It means buyers are getting sucked into a race to make an offer, then a bidding war, and even after they secure a property, they run a bigger risk of being gazumped.

“It’s a vicious circle, because potential sellers can’t see anything they want to buy at the moment, so they don’t list. It means anyone who might have wanted to buy their home doesn’t have anything to buy so they don’t list either, and so on.”