Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight, hailed this move as a "step in the right direction" but argued that the Bank should be able to intervene at any time, or risk "shutting the barn after the horse has bolted." While demand is outstripping supply, Mr Ellis said, "there are signs that supply is beginning to respond to the pick-up in demand, which if continued should help to constrain the upward pressure on prices." According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the number of homeowners looking to put their property on the market increased for the seventh successive month in August. The headline figures also mask stark regional differences - according to a Nationwide survey released last week, house prices in London have already outstripped pre-crisis levels while in Northern Ireland, the worst hit region, home values are still 52pc lower than they were in 2007. Economists say these differences help ease fears of a nationwide housing bubble, but focus concerns on London and the South East. Others are more confident that the housing market is a long way off developing another bubble. Nicholas Ayre, managing director of homebuying agency Home Fusion, said: "While prices continue to soar in London, particularly the top end of the market, transactions and lending levels are running at a fraction of what they were at the height of the housing boom.