Surveyors expect house prices to rise during the coming quarter for the first time in more than two years, research has suggested.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said a low level of properties on the market, combined with increasing buyer inquiries, was providing a platform for "modest price increases".

But it warned that there was unlikely to be a sustained recovery in the housing market until mortgage lending increased.

The group said 6% more chartered surveyors expected prices to rise during the coming three months than those who expected falls, up from 11% more who expected falls in May and the first positive reading since May 2007.

Surveyors in some areas of the country have already reported seeing rising prices during June, with more surveyors seeing rises than falls in London, the South West and South East during the month.

The rise in optimism is being driven by a continuing increase in interest from potential buyers, with the number of inquiries rising for the eighth month in a row to reach its highest level since RICS first started to collect data on the issue in 1999.

RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: "Although the market is showing signs of improvement, it is unlikely that there will be a sustained upturn while mortgage lenders remain risk adverse. A lack of stock on the market is providing a platform for modest price increases.

"While supply remains tight, the market may continue to show tentative signs of firming but instructions are starting to increase in some regions and this could dampen any meaningful recovery as long as economic conditions remain quite so uncertain."

Despite surveyors in some areas reporting price rises during June, overall a balance of 18.1% of surveyors reported price falls, down from 43.8% in May.

A high proportion of surveyors in the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside continue to report falls, with a balance of 46% and 45% respectively seeing further drops, while 41% more chartered surveyors in Northern Ireland said prices were falling compared with those who said they were rising.