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In its monthly review of the new homes market the company, which represents over 85 per cent of all new homes for sale, recorded a 2.6 per cent fall in the price of new build properties being marketed on its website.

Smart New Homes said this was because vendors were beginning to draw in their expectations to combat the lack of movement between buyers and sellers.

The total number of new homes available in June was down 4 per cent on figures for May, Smart New Homes data revealed.

Apartments took the biggest hit, with prices down 2.6 per cent and availability decreasing by 23 per cent since the previous month. This was due to the continued struggle first-time buyers had with the lack of available credit, according to the new build specialist.

However, larger family housing had a better month than apartments in June, according to the report, with less significant price falls recorded on semi-detached and detached properties, the latter of which recording an increase of 0.9 per cent in the three months to June.

David Bexon, managing director of SmartNewHomes.com, said it was the smaller properties which were aimed at first-time-buyers which would suffer due to tightening lending criteria. He also called for the decisive action from the government to alleviate stamp duty for first-time buyers.

He said: "Demand remains high in the new homes market, and while the current range of developer incentives has kept home buyers interested, it is encouraging to see prices coming down to a level that more people are willing to pay. However, there is still a gap between these two figures.

"While overall property sales are clearly down on this time last year, buyers are still looking to enter the market and developers are helping many people to do this with a range of excellent incentives and schemes, which in some cases have allowed people to bypass financial constraints and secure a more competitive mortgage."

Simon Webster, managing director of Kent-based Facts & Figures Financial Planners Limited, said: "We all know that the housing market in terms of the number of transactions has been severely constricted this year, in the last quarter particularly, due to the problems of obtaining mortgage finance.

"The good news is that a number of lenders have said they are to announce lower rates so there is an argument that the tide may just be starting to turn."