Demand continues to run ahead of supply, according to the latest report from Zoopla, maintaining annual house price growth at 2.5%.

The property portal found that Nottingham and Manchester are registering annual price growth over 4% while 16 of the 20 cities covered by its House Price Index are recording price growth of 2% or more.

The time it takes for homes to sell has also decreased by 31% across the UK, said the property portal.

Property is averaging just 27 days to sell in the period since lockdown, compared to 39 days over the same period in 2019.

Demand high

Demand from homebuyers remains 78% above last year, but it has begn to soften, falling 17% over past month, as the traditional holiday season dampens to market.

However, Zoopla expects market conditions to remain stronger than last year for the rest of 2020, and predicts that average property prices will be up 2-3% by the year end.

Richard Donnell, the portal’s research and insight director, said: “While the economy has contracted sharply and unemployment is rising, consumer spending has rebounded and purchasing manager indices are pointing to a wider rebound in the economy.

“This is positive but the unwinding of the furlough scheme and other Government support is the next challenge that will test the strength of economic recovery. In the short term we still believe that house prices will end the year 2% to 3% higher than at the start.”