House prices stalled during December as the number of new buyers entering the market fell for the first time in 11 months, figures showed today.

The average cost of a home in England and Wales edged ahead by just 0.1 per cent to £156,900, as the market suffered its traditional seasonal slowdown, according to housing intelligence group Hometrack.

Only 11 per cent of postcode districts saw price increases during the month, down from nearly 18 per cent in November.

Demand was also subdued, as people put off buying a new home until after the Christmas break.

Estate agents reported a 2.2 per cent fall in the number of new buyers registering with them, the first decline since January.

There was also a 0.8 per cent fall in the number of properties put up for sale during the month. Agreed sales dipped by 0.5 per cent.

Despite the slowdown in activity, the average time a property takes to sell fell to 8.3 weeks, while the proportion of their asking price sellers achieved increased to 93.3 per cent. House prices are 1.9 per cent lower than a year ago.

Richard Donnell, of Hom- etrack, said: “Unexpectedly buoyant demand and a chronic lack of housing for sale were the key drivers of the housing market in 2009.

“While a scarcity of housing is set to remain an important feature of the market in 2010, it is the prospects for demand that will dictate the outlook for prices in the next 12 months.

“While economic growth is expected to pick up in 2010, rising unemployment and slow growth in household incomes is set to act as a drag on demand.”

Estate agents have seen a 41 per cent increase in dem- and during the past year, rising to 70 per cent in London.

But the number of properties for sale has edged up by only seven per cent during the same period, while in the South East there was actually a fall in availability.

Going forward, the group expects the shortage of property for sale to continue, with only about 780,000 homes expected to change hands in 2010, up slightly from 700,000 in 2009.

But it warned it did not expect the improved conditions seen this year to continue, and it predicts house prices to end 2010 one per cent lower than they start it.

The cost of property rose by 0.1 per cent in the West Midlands. Meanwhile, the Centre for Economics and Business Research predicted house prices would rise by between two and four per cent in 2010.

By Liza Radley