A new survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has found that the housing market in Scotland remains "constrained".

It added that the sector is "marred" by weak supply and high demand.

The latest Residential Market Survey found that, for April, demand for homes remained steady, with 23% of respondents saying new buyer inquiries had increased. However, a lack of second-hand supply remained a "critical issue".

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Elsewhere, almost half of chartered surveyors felt that property prices would increase, rather than decrease over the next three months.

Sarah Speirs, RICS Scotland Director, is quoted as saying: "House prices in general look set to remain firmly on the upward trend, however, the critical issue for the market remains the lack of second hand supply, despite a slight increase in April.

"It is too early to conclude whether this will undermine the positive trend in transactions volumes, but clearly the absence of properties to buy will ultimately be a factor in influencing the ability of people to move homes.

"That said, despite the disappointing trend in instructions, a net balance of 45% of surveyors expect to see sales levels increase as we head into the summer."

(JP/IT)