The housebuilder Redrow has reported a drop in sales in another sign that the effects of the government’s help-to-buy mortgage subsidy scheme may be fading.

The Flintshire-based group, the largest homebuilder in Wales which also has developments across the UK, said sales over the summer reverted to more typical patterns after last year’s mini boom following the introduction of the controversial mortgage-subsidy scheme help to buy.

Redrow’s sales per outlet ran at 0.65 last summer compared with “an abnormally high rate” of 0.87 in summer 2013, after the scheme’s launch in April. The housebuilder told investors on Monday it was experiencing a traditional autumn market with a sales rate of 0.68, in line with last year.

“The high demand for new homes generated by the launch of the government’s help to buy scheme in 2013 has, this summer, reverted to a more normal level of activity,” Steve Morgan, Redrow’s chief executive, will tell shareholders at its annual general meeting. The company also reported historically low cancellation rates and strong order books.

The slackening of the help-to-buy effect was echoed by rivals Bovis and Galliford Try last week, as they reported a return to normal seasonal trading patterns.

Galliford Try said summer sales were down on last year, with prices returning to sustainable levels. The Bovis chief executive, David Ritchie, forecast that prices would be subdued in 2015 due to tighter availability of mortgages, expectations of an interest rate rise and fragile consumer confidence.

In the first 18 months of help to buy, almost 34,000 households acquired homes using its equity loan scheme. This allows existing homeowners and first-time buyers to borrow 20% on an interest-free basis up to £120,000 if they can raise a deposit worth 5% on the value of the property.

The latest government data shows that the number of properties bought with an equity loan hit a monthly peak of 3,731 in June, dropped over the summer and rallied to 2,274 in September.