The news confirms the trend of the past few months which shows that the housing boom has ended.

But there is still no evidence of a crash that some experts and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund have warned about.

"Prices are bumping along the bottom... prices are flat as a pancake," said Hometrack's housing economist John Wriglesworth.

Biggest risers Cumbria +0.5% East Riding +0.3% Mid Wales +0.3% Merseyside +0.2% North Wales +0.2%

Sir Edward George, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, is amongst those who feel the prospect of a crash has been over hyped.

"I think there has been a lot of rather strong language used about a house price crash....the overall picture is of a moderation in the rate of increase," he told the BBC last week.

Hometrack also says there is more evidence that supply is overtaking demand.

The number of new properties listed grew by 4% while the number of new buyers rose by less than 1%, the survey said.

Biggest fallers Wiltshire -0.3% Surrey -0.3% West Sussex -0.2% West Midlands -0.1% Oxfordshire -0.1%

And that means that sellers are being forced to drop their asking prices, with the average seller now only getting 93.4% of the asking price.

Furthermore, the disparity between the north and the south is beginning to even out.

Nevertheless, some areas of the country, led by Cumbria, are continuing to enjoy small prices rises.

And house price falls have persisted in the south east and Greater London.