The housing market tipped further in favour of first-time buyers as prices grew by less than 1% for the fifth month in a row in April, according to the UK’s largest building society, Nationwide.

The overall housing market across Britain remains subdued, according to Nationwide’s monthly house price index, with consumer confidence having weakened since the start of the year and the number of new buyer inquiries still relatively low.

While the flow of new properties coming on to the market has slowed, it was not enough to turn the market back in favour of sellers, with prices up by 0.4% in April, rising slightly faster than the 0.2% recorded in March.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “While the ongoing economic uncertainties have clearly been weighing on consumer sentiment, this hasn’t prevented further steady gains in the number of first-time buyers entering the housing market in recent quarters.

“Indeed, the number of mortgages being taken out by first-time buyers has continued to approach pre-financial crisis levels in recent months.”

He said a rise in the number of first-time buyers was underpinned by low unemployment rates and earnings growth, with rising wages outstripping inflation.

While the average house price of £214,920 remains high, Gardner said low mortgage rates have helped to support affordability, with the average worker able to support repayments from their salary in most parts of the country.

Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent and a former Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors residential chairman, says: “Soft growth in the last set of figures from Nationwide is continuing and confirmed on the high street.

“Clearly, Brexit uncertainty in the minds of homebuyers is still outweighing almost record low mortgage rates and employment numbers as well as improved affordability.

“A glimmer of good news is that first-time buyers are taking advantage, particularly of help to buy and deposits from the bank of mum and dad, not forgetting reduced competition from landlords.”

Last month Nationwide said that prices in England had fallen for the first time since 2012, although growth continued in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.