City workers cashing in on their investments were pinpointed by the firm's Asking Price Index Report as key drivers of this national trend, with the impact particularly being felt within Greater London.
Indeed 23 per cent of the current stock up for sale in Greater London was rushed to market in the last 14 days.
This has had a significant impact on both the average asking price in the region, which has risen by 3.4 per cent since February to £361,414, and on a wider scale in England and Wales - pushing it up by 1.4 per cent. The average asking price in England and Wales in now £259,026.
The increasingly uncertain economic outlook, driven by fluctuations within the financial markets over the last month and the threat of redundancy, has led a number of investors to cut their losses with the hope of selling up before the Chancellor's changes to capital gains tax legislation take effect.
Home.co.uk's Doug Shephard said that the prospect of job losses pushed by news that various investment vehicles have gone bust had not helped the current gloomy outlook
"City workers are bracing themselves for a tough year and don’t want to risk making painful near-term losses on property - they want out."
The report stated: 'Logically speaking, large increases in property sales listings should not occur when the housing market is in poor shape, but they do and the reason is simple: panic selling.
'Some sales will be forced due to spiralling mortgage costs and others will simply be investors fearing their capital will be tied-up in illiquid assets during a downturn.'
It concluded: 'After 12 years of ballooning house prices and dwindling manufacturing capacity, the UK is looking very vulnerable to a severe economic downturn.'
