The number of UK homeowners putting their properties on the market has increased by 7.1% in the past month compared to the previous month, and more than two thirds (67%) of major towns and cities in the UK have seen a rise in the number of new properties being marketed in the same period, according to new research by online estate agents HouseSimple.com.

The firm compiled a Property Supply Index looking at the number of new properties listed every week on the property portal Rightmove, in more than 100 major towns and cities across the UK and all the London boroughs.

These figures reveal that, although new stock levels remain low overall across the country, homeowners are finally starting to market their properties, with a large number of towns and cities seeing a pick-up in new property listings in the past month – particularly in the north of England and Scotland.

Swindon, in South West England, actually saw the biggest rise (47.3%) in new property listings in the past month, while Oxford (17.5%) was the only other city in the south to feature in the list of biggest risers.

The figures also reveal a distinct north-south divide, with 9 out of 15 of the new property listings fastest risers in the north of England or Scotland, while four other towns/cities in the Midlands also feature in the list.