THE average price new home hunters are willing to pay is now £215,854 up nine per cent from a year ago (£198,223) and up four per cent over the last three months.

The region with the highest increase in demand has been Greater London where over the last three months home hunters have increased the price they are willing to pay by 12 per cent. The next best increase was Yorkshire and Humberside (up 5.3 per cent). London prices have seen a comeback from a weak market in early 2003 when many new homes prices, both sought for by buyers and asked for by builders, actually fell. Yorkshire and Humberside are continuing to benefit from high demand for new build especially in Leeds.

Notwithstanding the high popularity of London based new homes, Londoners are leading the new migration table. The number of new home searches targeting the London area is 8.4 per cent less than the recorded number of users based in London. The South West is the most popular place to emigrate too. This reflects better value homes and reasonably good transport links back to London.

New apartments are proving more popular than detached houses and penthouses are back in favour.

New home seekers are increasingly looking to buy apartments rather than more expensive detached houses. This reflects the relative affordability of the two types of property as well as the increase in buy-to-let investors and first-time buyers needing to get on the first rung of the property ladder.

Demand prices for penthouses are increasing after a very weak market last year.

David Bexon, Smart New Homes chief executive, said: “To maintain affordability and address the shortage of new homes the Government should encourage new home builders to build in greater numbers by speeding up the planning process.”

For information visit www.smartnewhomes.com