Property asking prices rise as stock drops

This caught my eye whilst reading the times yesterday.

Homesellers increased asking prices by 0.4% in the past month as the number of buyers searching for property online reached record highs. Rightmove, the property website, said that sellers' expectations had pushed up the average asking price to £222,261 in the UK and by 2.3% in London to an average of £407,731. The rise comes after a decline in the amount of stock on the market.

I can't help but wonder if the record highs in property being bought/sold and searched for online, is also due to the amount of bad weather we've had in the last month. Being sat at home of an evening with a nice cuppa and the left over chocolates, searching online - rather than getting wrapped up and going out to face the cold and snow would be the preferable option for me. With record sales of iphones and Blackberrys over Christmas - the internet is now much more accessible. You can still use your local estate agent - but they're also now online and also on a property search website.