Asking prices for UK homes have risen sharply in recent weeks, sparking fears that sellers and estate agents have not been willing or able to shake off the 'spring boom' mentality.

Typically estate agents and sellers increase prices at this time of year but this is not a typical year said Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove.

A buoyant economy and stable interest rates mean there is little urgency for homeowners to sell, said Rightmove today. As a result, the average number of properties on estate agents books remains historically high at 63 - against 48 at the same time last year - with the average home staying on the market for 85 days.

Without forced sellers, long-term stagnation, rather than falling prices, may set in said the firm.

Asking prices rose sharply over the past 5 weeks, by £4,321 or 2.3%, from £189,509 to £193,830, Rightmove said. This reverses the downward trend of the previous 3 months, during which prices declined by 2.1% or just over £4,000.

After 2 months of low activity in terms of new instructions, the number of properties coming on to the market has surged over the last month, as a huge 132,000 homes were listed by estate agents who advertise on Rightmove.co.uk. This represents over half of all property on the market, by far the largest sample of any house prices indicator, providing an up to date trend of market behaviour.

The traditional New Year pick up combined with some pent up buyer demand has increased sales of properties from the very low volumes experienced since last summer. Time on market has declined very slightly, from 87 to 85 days, but remains much longer than it was in the summer, when properties were coming off the market in just 53 days. Similarly, the average number of properties per branch remains historically high, at 63 – down from over 67 in October, but still much higher (+31%) than the level of around 48 this time last year.

Not a typical year

In a typical year, estate agents compete with each other to build their stocks of properties for sale in January and February, in preparation for the customary spring pick-up in activity.

This competition results in some optimistic asking prices and when combined with renewed buyer interest, affordability and limited supply, results in a rising market.

A look back over the last few years suggests that as the housing market picks up from its festive slowdown, asking prices always tend to rise in February. In 2004 they rose by 2.1%, while February in the previous 2 years saw increases of 2.0% and 4.5%.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove said: "Asking prices have risen this month, as is typical of the last few years, but it’s not a typical year that sellers and their estate agents have become accustomed to."

"Activity levels have been really low since summer last year. Just look at the recent Land Registry figures, which measure all transactions in the market. They showed a 24% decline in actual transactions completed in the last quarter of 2004 as compared with one year earlier, and the lowest for 6 years, since 1998."

"In addition prices fell by over £5,000 or 2.7% as compared with the previous quarter, a bigger decrease than had been measured by all other price achieved indicators."

"There is evidence of pent up demand for housing, with continued growth in the number of people looking at property for sale on the internet and record levels of site visits on Rightmove.co.uk. Most agents report a clear pick-up in enquiries and viewing levels by prospective buyers. On top of this, if properties are realistically priced and well presented, they are selling, with buyers encouraged by the relatively low cost of borrowing and confidence that there will be no crash."