Economic turmoil and falling house prices could offer first-time buyers both reasons to be cautious about getting onto the housing ladder and opportunities to become homeowners, it has been suggested.

Sue Anderson, head of external affairs at the Council of Mortgage Lenders, said that some buyers could "feel a bit wobbly" after the credit crunch and feel nervous about purchasing a property but said that static house prices could be "good news".

"It gives their earnings a chance to start closing the gap between what has been happening recently, where income growth has been a lot slower than house price inflation," she explained.

Ms Anderson said that while it is hard to predict how people will respond to changing economic conditions, "one way or another, first time buyers can at least breathe a sigh of relief that we are probably not going to be seeing house prices getting further out of reach".

Economists from major financial institutions forecast that house prices will see little or no growth next year, with Halifax reporting that last month saw house prices fall by 1.1 per cent.