Much has been said over the last few months about whether the housing market is finally slowing down.

We are so used to it changing - one week it's near a crash, the next it's a boom - that we start to lose interest.

However, one survey has come up with evidence that it is slowing.

Hometrack found that, in May, house prices across England and Wales experienced very low or sometimes no increase in house prices at all.

In Essex, house prices rose by 0.6 per cent, according to Hometrack.

But does this mean property will suddenly become affordable?

Estate agents are reluctant to say the market is crashing ,but they are realistic.

"We are finding there's an air of uncertainty," said Graham Buxton, partner at Fenn Wright in Colchester High Street. "We think prices are still increasing, but at a slower rate."

Mr Buxton said that while his Colchester office has more than 2,000 people registered as potential buyers, they are being "cautious".

The problem is the two-bedroom apartments on new developments, said Mr Buxton.

"Developers have been encouraged to put high density schemes together which means we are overloaded with two-bedroom apartments in the Colchester area. In certain locations these are proving difficult to sell."

Some of these flats belong to people from out of the north Essex area who expect to sell and make a profit, said David Boyden, managing partner of Boydens in Crouch Street, Colchester.

"These flats are four or five years old and buyers are not seeing them as good value. People are assuming that the price has gone up in the year or two since they bought it, but that's not the case. There's almost a £60,000 difference between a ten to 15-year-old two-bedroom flat and one of the newer ones."

The rental market in new flats is similar, said Mr Boyden, who has found that buy-to-let owners are having to compete with dozens of similar apartments - sometimes in the same block, for tenants.

The picture is slightly different on the coast, where although house price increases are slowing down, flats are still selling but, again, it's thanks to out-of-towners.

Sheens estate agents in Old Road, Clacton, deals mainly with properties such as Victorian terraces and mid-range semi and detached properties.

Gary Sheen, director of Sheens, explained: "We don't deal with new-build developments, but we have noticed that new flats sold three years ago are coming back on to the market at the same price they first sold.

"We are still getting an influx of people from south Essex and east London buying property in this area."

Boydens, Fenn Wright and Sheens all said the delay in introducing home information packs - now slated for four-bedroom properties in August - had confused vendors.

Despite indications the housing market is slowing, nothing's changed for first- time buyers in Colchester.

"First-time buyers are still struggling and the lucky ones are being assisted by parents," said Graham Buxton, of Fenn Wright. If prices plateau and income increases, the situation could get better, he said.

But despite the interest rate rises and the financial pressure of rising bills, May was a good month for Boydens.

This was largely down to older, established properties such as Victorian and 1930s homes and bungalows.

Mr Boyden. added: "There is a very high demand for established properties but the supply isn't there. They are very easy to sell. People don't necessarily want flats, but everyone seems to want a 1930s three-bedroom semi," he said.

Paying for that loan

Christopher Dean at the Council of Mortgage Lenders said reports of people borrowing four or five times their salary was "over-inflated".

If this had been allowed the borrower would have been tied to a list of conditions.

For those who think they can forge their payslips to apply for a bigger mortgage, Mr Dean had this warning: "Lenders will not just look at salaries, but affordability too to make sure no-one gets a mortgage higher than they can afford."