“They are through the worst in the USA where the sub-prime problem forced a fall in values. Prices are already picking up over there.

“I’m hopeful that during the second half of this year, the underlying demand that we know is just under the surface, will rise to the top and people will start buying again.

“We just need another couple of good deals offered by lenders and people will get their mortgages and the sold signs will go up.”

But property experts warned that sellers are testing the market at prices in excess of the peak of the boom and ignoring the consequence of tightening mortgage availability.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of website Rightmove, cautioned them against being too greedy.

He said: “New sellers can see the storm clouds but seem to believe it’s only raining on other people.

“The reality is that it started raining last September and has reached storm force in the last month.

“The free-flowing mortgage tap has been turned off. Sellers who are hanging out to achieve last year’s prices need to accept the market has fallen and that they will end up being punished by a lower price in the long run.

“In the current market, over-pricing is the wrong tactic both to sell a house and to speed a recovery in sales volumes.”

The record level of new sellers’ asking prices is being led by the South.

There has been a 4.2 per cent rise in the South-east with the traditional spring marketing of larger and more expensive family homes pushing up average prices.

The North-west has seen the largest fall with asking prices 2.5 per cent lower than 12 months ago.

James Greenwood, managing director of Stacks Property Search & Acquisition, advised buyers to drive a hard bargain.

He said: “When the market’s going up, estate agents push prices higher. Now it’s falling, so buyers can get their own back.

“Many homes which have recently been put on the market carry realistic asking prices which can form a basis for negotiation.

“But a few are overpriced. It’s the sellers’ fault. They’re unrealistic or don’t need to sell.

“The leverage for buyers is that, with so few purchasers, sellers will now bend over backwards to secure a sale.”

The slump in home sales is set to take a damaging toll on the wider economy, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors warned.

It suggests that consumer spending could fall by more than eight per cent compared with last year.