PRICE tags on some York homes have been cut for the first time in a decade, according to market experts.

Estate agents said a sluggish property market has seen the value of some properties falling by up to 15 per cent.

Some said valuable properties have been hit hardest, with elderly people looking to downgrade their homes worst affected.

But others said that although sellers must be "more realistic" in their asking price, the market was beginning to pick up again after a slow winter.

The news came as a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed confidence in the Yorkshire and Humber housing market was at its lowest in ten years.

Ben Hudson, a partner at Hudson Moody, in High Petergate, York, said: "In the last 12 months there has been up to a ten per cent reduction, though it does seem to be stabilising now.

"If you are moving up the market it is good news. If you are moving down it is harder," he added. "Older people wanting to downsize are definitely suffering a bit more."

Mr Hudson said a two-bedroom apartment in Fulford Place sold for £190,000 last year, but fetched just £170,000 when it was put back on the market last month.

A Stephensons spokesman said reductions of up to 15 per cent had been seen on some properties. A detached house on sale in Stamford Bridge at £290,000 for four months, but sold for only £260,000.

However not everyone agreed prices were coming down.

Scott Anscomb, owner of Your Move Anscombs, in York, said: "We are finding there's still a very busy market.

"The market for flats has come down, but in other parts of the market the properties are still very much in demand.

"In the two-bedroom house market, we can find ourselves getting two or three offers on properties."

A spokeswoman for Rentons Countrywide in Low Petergate, York, said: "Prices are not going down. They have levelled out. First-time buyers have started coming out of the woodwork."

According to RICS, between December and February the average house price in Yorkshire and the Humber fell from £139,900 to £137,300.

Spokesman Jeremy Leaf said the findings were good news for buyers.

He said: "Getting on the property ladder is currently easier for first-time buyers, as buyers increasingly call the shots. Sellers must be more realistic if they want to secure a sale."

Updated: 08:42 Tuesday, April 26, 2005