A “dramatic” increase in the number of sellers putting their homes on their market in Norfolk could be linked to an offer of free information packs, it was revealed yesterday .

A “dramatic” increase in the number of sellers putting their homes on their market in Norfolk could be linked to an offer of free information packs, it was revealed yesterday .

The county's house market has kept in line with the national trend by slowing for the first time in months while buyer interest has held up, according to the new figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

House prices continued to rise for the 19th consecutive month in May but stepped down a gear, with 23.9pc more chartered surveyors reporting a rise rather than a fall in prices compared with 28.5pc in April.

New buyer enquiries stabilised despite of the interest rate hike, while nationally the amount of sellers putting their property on the market increased from month to month at the fastest pace in the history of the Rics survey, which has collected data each month for 29 years.

It is believed that sellers listed their properties early in order to avoid the upfront cost of assembling the now delayed Home Information Pack (HIP).

Norfolk-based chartered surveyor Nigel Morgan said: “After a relatively slow month for instructions in April, with strong inter-agent competition for the same stock, new instructions in May increased rapidly - apparently linked by offering free home information packs.

“Sales below £250,000 continue strongly with fierce competition for one and two bedroom properties where there has been a dramatic further increase in prices, particularly with flats and maisonettes.”

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