Figures from the Bank of England suggest that mortgage lending to home buyers is going to continue to stagnant in the coming months.
In November 2011, there were 52,854 mortgage loans agreed in principle to home buyers.
These figures are an increase of 12% from November 2010. However, the figures have barely changed over the last four consecutive months.
On top of that, the total number of mortgages being approved is still less than half the number of approvals seen in the period before the banking crisis back in 2007.
Howard Archer from IHS Global Insight said: "Housing market activity remains very weak compared to long-term lows and has been unable to develop significant upward momentum."
"With the economic environment looking decidedly worrisome, we believe that house prices are headed downwards in 2012."
There are a number of possible explanations for the current mortgage stagnation. There has been little relaxation in the strict rationing of mortgages from banks and building societies since 2008.
Many first-time buyers have been unable to raise the deposit required by lenders, which has led them to being frozen out of the market.
There has also been a rise in unemployment, which has had a knock-on effect on the property market with people having less money to spend.
As a result of these causes, the recent stagnation of the market is a good indication of the coming year, which will see low sales figures and prices continuing to fall.