Interest from prospective buyers increased by 9% last month, with estate agents registering a typical 337 hunters from 308 per branch in March, data from the trade body showed.
However, this number is significantly lower than the 381 measured in April 2017.
Last month the supply of homes available to buy fell from 40 in March to 33 on average per branch.
The number of number of sales agreed remained the same, with eight per branch in April.
The proportion of sales to first-time buyers dipped to 24% from 26% in 2017.
Swinging back
Mark Hayward, chief executive at NAEA Propertymark said: “Last month our findings indicated that we were entering what looked like a buyer’s market, but this month, the dial has swung back in the favour of sellers.
“With demand on the up, and the supply of available homes falling once again, buyers will find themselves facing stiff competition from other house-hunters.
“This is particularly difficult for first-time buyers who traditionally have less bargaining power on price, so will be struggling to enter bidding wars with second or third steppers.
“The government is working to improve the house buying and selling process, which is music to our ears, but until more homes are built and supply catches up with demand, the process will remain difficult.”
