Lending secured on dwellings in January 2014 is up by 36% to £17,234m compared to £12,671m in January 2013, the Bank of England revealed.
Charles Haresnape, Aldermore Residential Mortgages managing director, said: “A note of caution here; this demand must be balanced against supply, or there is a danger of the housing market overheating.
“There are growing anecdotal reports of a shortage of prospective sellers. We need more houses to come onto the market to balance any risks of a demand-driven housing bubble as new builds are not likely to be able to keep up with the level of demand.”
"Supply has to come from a combination of both new builds and existing properties by encouraging more sellers into the market.
“The likelihood is that more sellers will come into the market over the coming months due to the renewed confidence in the market, which should help drive down the dangers of house prices over-inflating."
Nigel Stockton, financial services director at Countrywide, added: "Resale supply remains the most challenging issue with listings the crucial activity for estate agencies across the country.
“Estate agencies are showing graphs which show the decline in available stock against enquiries. That said, there is now positive house price growth across the country so they do expect transactions to rise again this year.
“The government's Help to Buy initiative has led to consumer confidence increasing and is working in the right regions to bolster the market."
