Scottish house prices look set to rise further in the first quarter of 2016 as supply continues to fail to meet demand, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The RICS UK Residential Market Survey, December 2015, has shown rising demand and a slight increase in properties coming onto the market led to an uplift in newly agreed sales in December (a net balance of 24 per cent), and surveyors expect this trend to continue in the near-term at least.

A net balance of 35 per cent of Scottish respondents forecast a rise in transactions in the January-to-March period, with 24 per cent of surveyors also expecting average prices to increase in this quarter.

Sarah Speirs, director RICS in Scotland, said: “Despite a growth in new instructions, the chronic shortage of housing supply in Scotland continues to result in rising house prices and rents across the country. To remedy the shortage, Scottish Government policy is, and for a considerable amount of time has been, aimed at supporting demand and, more crucially, the new build market and home ownership.

“Earlier this week we launched Shaping Scotland’s Housing Future, which aims to inform political parties of the role property – across housing, planning & development, construction and infrastructure – plays in driving Scotland’s economic growth ahead of the Scottish parliamentary elections in May.

“The recommendations within this report focus primarily on vital methods of increasing supply and maintaining existing housing stock to provide a robust, sustainable approach to address Scotland current housing market needs.”

Throughout 2015 chartered surveyors reported almost continual growth in prices and this continued in December, with a net balance of 29 per cent more respondents reported a rise in house prices across Scotland.