Falling interest in buying a new home in East Anglia

A survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that in the East of England 69pc more surveyors reported new buyer enquires fell in June.

Nationally, there was just a 27pc rise in property surveyors reporting a decrease in purchase interest.

Oliver Dack, a mortgage advisor at the Mortgage Advice Bureau Norwich office, said that he had also noticed that buyer activity is slowing down.

However, despite fewer people looking at houses, actual applications for new mortgages have remained the same.

With the demand for actual house sales remaining strong, it could be helping to push up the region's house prices.

And the RICS survey found that 57pc more surveyors in East Anglia are reporting that house prices have increased.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said house prices remain "resilient for now" in part due to shortage of stock.

He added: "Although buyer enquiries have predictably slipped a little of late, this needs to be placed in the context of the healthy level of demand in previous months."

Mr Dack, however, warned that while applications for new mortgages have remained level, lenders seem to be less keen on these borrowers and are raising interest rates on deals.

"We are seeing daily rate changes, with lenders seemingly pricing themselves out of business to curb demand," he said.

Instead, mortgage lenders are focusing on attracting remortgage customers, with Mr Dack noticing a significant rise in these applications.

He explained that the rise in remortgages could be due to homeowners wanting to lock into the most competitive rates possible, especially as the Bank of England has warned of further base rate rises.

Mr Dack said: "Borrowers cannot afford to procrastinate with these changes and strongly recommend speaking to a broker to make sure that as many options are being looked at as possible."