Surveyors have reduced their expectations for house price growth in the UK, despite a continued shortage of homes for sale.
Property prices are expected to grow by 5% a year over the next five years, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
Price rise expectations in London have dropped from an estimate of 9% a year in March to just under 5% now.
"What we are really seeing is some of the very strong upward momentum starting to come off the housing market, as a lack of supply, higher prices, more prudent lending measures and some of the talk from the Bank of England are creating a level of caution among sellers and buyers," said Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Rics.
The Rics survey is one of a number of different surveys that are published about the UK housing market.
New home registration statistics for the UK, released by NHBC, show that the number of new homes being registered continues to improve on last year's figures.
In total 34,239 houses were registered for the rolling quarter February to April, just over a 3% increase on the same three month period last year (33,111). The month of April saw a 4% increase compared to last April's totals, (11,912 in 2014; 11,484 in 2013), with it being the highest April total since 2007.
As the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, NHBC's registration statistics are a leading indicator of how the country's new homes market is performing.
Commenting on the latest statistics, NHBC's Commercial Director Richard Tamayo said: "Having seen very strong growth in 2013, it is comforting to see 2014 consolidate and even improve on last year's high volumes.
"As production ramps up across the country it is vital that we are able to provide the support and guidance to the industry that is needed at this time as builders strive to meet the growing demand for more new homes that the UK clearly needs."
NHBC UK statistics for February - April 2014 show that:
- For the rolling quarter February - April 2014 the number of registrations was 34,239, a 3% increase on the same period last year (33,111).
Of these:
- Private sector registrations in February - April 2014 increased by 2% (25,046), compared with the same period last year (24,542).
- Public sector registrations in February - April 2014 increased by 7% (9,193) when compared with the same period a year ago (8,569).
