House prices will rise by another seven per cent in the region next year due to the shortage of homes coming on to the market, surveyors have forecast.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said all parts of the country would see prices rise, with London set for another 11 per cent jump on top of already sizeable gains over the last year.

The West Midlands was one of the areas expected for a decent rise, with a seven per cent increase.

Based on its recent feedback, RICS said the demand-supply imbalance was the key challenge facing the residential market. It believes the number of transactions will improve to 1.2 million next year from the estimated 1.05 million this year, although this is still a long way short of the 1.67 million sales seen in 2006.