Falling home sale listings and rising prices are putting properties further out of the reach for first-home buyers, especially on the east coast.

The total number of capital cities properties listed for sale fell 4.1 per cent to 83,035 in the year to January 15, according to property market analytics firm CoreLogic.

The number of new properties listed for sale also fell by 12 per cent to 10,581 in the same period.

Its likely this has helped contribute to rising home prices over the last year.

Even though property prices have been flat since January 1 and have risen just half a per cent in the past month, CoreLogic data shows they have leapt 10.5 per cent in the year to January.

Rising prices and falling listings are obviously not great news for first homebuyers, but especially singles, according to new research by ME Bank.

The lender says the proportion of home lone applications by singles have fallen by nine points to 35 per cent in the last two years.

ME Bank says its average mortgage application for singles has jumped nine per cent to $355,000 in the same period.

That’s still well below the average Australian capital city house price of $606,394 and the average unit price of $520,907 last week, reported by CoreLogic.

ME head of home loans Patrick Nolan said, even as part of a couple, property prices were out of reach to many, but he said there were still strategies for singles to get into the market.

He said a good idea was to join forces with someone who isn’t your romantic partner such as a friend or family member – and also arranging pre-approval for a home loan to ensure time wasn’t wasted looking at unaffordable properties.

“Being single is not a reason to delay or forgo home ownership. Buying your own home is one of the smartest decisions you can make,” Mr Nolan said in a statement.