Buying a home in London is hardly ever easy due to the lack of residential properties for sale in the Capital. The well publicised shortage of London flats for sale, as well as houses makes it harder for anyone conducting a London property search.

Across London, properties of all descriptions have attracted greater interest in recent months, as a consequence of the spectacular recovery in the London property market, buoyed by greater consumer confidence, record low interest rates and overseas nationals with high spending power.

Yet, the supply of houses and flats for sale in London has failed to keep pace with demand, resulting in higher London property valuations, making the prospect of investing in the London property market a highly profitable venture.

The latest data from the Land Registry, for example, shows that the average price of a home in London appreciated by in excess of 6 per cent over 2009. Yet, many market commentators expect the fundamental shortage of houses and London flats for sale to force London property prices even higher, once more.

Peter Rollings, the managing director of Marsh and Parsons, the London estate agents, which specialises in the sale of flats and houses, believes that despite the uncertain economy, the London property market will continue to strengthen in 2010.

"I do believe that London [property prices], having recovered some lost ground during 2009, will continue to grow during 2010," Rollings said. "[Residential] stock is still an issue in the market."

In fact, over half of all Britons - 53% - believe that the general prices of houses and flats for sale in the UK will increase during 2010, driven primarily by a shortage of flats for sale, especially in London, a new Rightmove survey shows.

The property portal, which features property listings from a host of London estate agents, received a record number of visits to its website in January. The insatiable residential demand witnessed helped to push up the average asking prices of houses and flats by 1.2 per cent last month compared to December 2009.

Commenting on the positive property outlook, Miles Shipside, Rightmove's commercial director, said: "The property market is in a virtuous circle scenario, where consumers are seeing less property up for sale and fresh to the market property selling more quickly.

"That rightly gives them the impression that we are over the worst of the recent price falls, and that there is likely to be upward pressure on prices."

Property valuations are generally expected to rise across the UK, not just in 2010, but over the next few years. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicts that national residential property prices will increase by as much as 20% by 2013, with the greatest growth anticipated in the London housing market.

Despite all the concerns for the future direction of the economy, the indications are that the London property market should continue to see a period of steady growth ahead. This in turn should whet peoples’ appetite to buy a home in London even further, making the idea of owning a London flat or house in the current climate even more valuable, almost like gold dust.