Home movers are panic buying in property hotspots because of an “agonising” shortage of homes for sale, defying predictions the market would cool in the run up to Christmas. 

Estate agents have reported a fall in new homes for sale for the eighth month in a row, according to a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a trade body. 

Traditionally the market slows down in the festive season, but the acute stock shortage means buyers are offering over the asking price in a desperate attempt to win bidding wars.

Simon Hollis, a chartered surveyor in Yorkshire, said the number of properties on the market had halved in the space of six weeks. 

Tracey Bullen, a chartered surveyor in Cornwall, which overtook London as the most searched-for location by buyers earlier this year, said house hunters were bidding without even viewing the property in person. 

“Potential purchasers are viewing homes from videos and putting in offers above the asking price to secure a move to the county,” she said. 

After months of rural house price growth outpacing levels seen in cities, the tide looked like it was beginning to turn in autumn as workers returned to the office. Agreed sales rose by 18.5pc in major cities during October compared to the same month in 2019, according to analytics firm TwentyCi. 

But estate agents on the ground have reported out-of-area buyers are still pushing up prices.

Neil Foster, of Foster Maddison Property Consultants, an estate agency in Northumberland, said stock had fallen to “agonising” levels in the past two months.

“Buyer appetite is still strong, though, which means an element of panic buying remains evident in prime areas,” he added. 

A record share of homes sold above their asking price in October, according to Hamptons, an estate agency, with 45pc of homes in England and Wales exceeding their owners’ expectations. The average seller achieved 101pc of their asking price.

Property prices hit a 15-year high of £272,992 in November, according to mortgage lender Halifax, an 8.2pc increase compared with the same month last year. 

The huge growth has been fuelled by fierce competition between buyers, which the Rics predicted would continue to increase house prices well into next year.