The housing market appeared to stabilise during June after a flurry of activity in May, research has revealed.

The number of properties sold and the number of house hunters registered with estate agents dipped slightly during the month, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).

But the group said the market is more robust now than it was last year after the recent improvements.

NAEA President Gary Smith said: "The housing market is in a far stronger position than it was 12 months ago.

"After several months of continuous improvement the market stabilised in June, ahead of an expected seasonal dip throughout the summer."

Estate agents shifted an average of 9.5 properties during the month, a slight dip from May's 10.4, but nearly double the 5.2 sold in August 2008.

The number of potential buyers also fell back slightly as 290 registered with estate agents compared to 299 in May.

The number of properties on the market continued to stay low, with 64 homes on the average estate agent's books, down from 69 in May.

The lack of properties up for sale is thought to be having an effect on house prices, with the gap between asking prices and sale prices falling significantly - 1.9% in June compared to 6.3% in May. However, this could also be attributed to sellers now pricing their homes more realistically.

Fewer properties were bought by first-time buyers during the month as their share of purchases dropped from 43% in May to 26% in June.

House prices have increased in three of the past four months, according to Nationwide. It has been suggested that these are early signs of a stabilising market.

But economists urged caution as rising unemployment and ongoing problems in the mortgage market are expected to cause a dip in house prices.

Halifax recently reported a 0.5% fall in house prices during July.

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