Figures show asking prices for properties have risen for the fourth consecutive month as sellers set optimistic prices for their homes.

According to property website Rightmove, during the four weeks to May 9 the average asking price for a property in England and Wales rose by 2.4% to £227,441.

But the group has warned that the jump in asking prices is more reminiscent of a boom market than the current one and sellers may be pricing their homes to take into account the amount their equity has been eroded.

Rightmove added that the 2.4% price increase is the largest recorded since 2003, when house prices were rising by 15% a year.

However, despite some sellers increasing the price of their homes more than 59,000 sellers knocked more than 2% during the past four weeks and the average homeowner had reduced it by 6.8% or nearly £19,000.

While the rise in asking prices is an optimistic sign from sellers, Rightmove warns that the number of properties being put up for sale remained low during the four weeks.

Just 61,000 new homes came on the market, compared with 135,000 in May last year. The lowest level of new homes advertised on its site during the month since 2003.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: "The long-term worry is that the supply side of the housing market is now compromised for several years to come.

"Developers have shed much of their workforce so could struggle to increase capacity, and we are now seeing the lowest number of new sellers of second-hand homes for the month of May since 2003."

Despite the lack of new homes being put onto the market recent figures show there are some signs that activity in the housing market is improving.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, during March there was a 29% jump in mortgage lending to people buying a new home.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors also said inquiries from potential buyers rose at their fastest pace in almost a decade in April.

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