Total advances for mortgages jumped 40% in the year to July, as house prices continued to soar and interest rates remained low.

A detrimental change in one or more of a number of market drivers would... bring the mortgage market as a whole back into the realm of normality

Alex Boorman, Datamonitor

However, Datamonitor said these rates of increase could not be maintained in the long term and a shift in the key market supports, such as a strong housing market, could put the brakes on borrowing.

At the same time, a survey on moving house suggested that the threat of gazumping and packing belongings were the most stressful elements of a move.

Spend spend spend

Mortgage lending leapt from £15.5bn to £21.8bn in the 12 months from July 2001, said Datamonitor.

A large part of the increase was driven by remortgaging, which Datamonitor suggested showed home-owners were focusing more on personal finances.

Remortgaging accounted for 31% of new loans, encouraging more lenders to offer current account or "off-set" mortgages.

The report said lending would continue to rise in the current year with an increasing number of borrowers choosing to shop online for a mortgage.

But Alex Boorman, author of the report said: "Such growth cannot be sustained in the long-term.

"A detrimental change in one or more of a number of market drivers would rein in gross advances and bring the mortgage market as a whole back into the realm of normality."

Stressful move

While mortgage borrowing is on the up, moving itself is a difficult business according to Alliance & Leicester.

A report from the mortgage lender suggested that one in 10 house sales in England and Wales fell through, with 12% of sales failing after an offer had been accepted.

Alliance & Leicester said the most stressful element of moving was packing and re-packing, closely followed by the threat of gazumping, with agreements collapsing and housing chains falling apart.