Mortgage size has increased, reports London top mortgage broker, London Mortgage Advice Thursday, 5th August 2010

The size of the average homeloan requested by those looking to buy property in the rocketed by £45,000 in the month of July alone to £269,478, according to Leadbay, a company which puts mortgage borrowers in touch with advisers. The average size of a mortgage applied for in London and the South East has undergone a record leap.

Breaking the £200,000 barrier in the region for the first time, in the South East requested borrowing rose 21%,
Grant Stevens, managing director of Leadbay, warned that the increases are unsustainable, putting further downward pressure on prices
The only region to exceed this average figure before is London.

He said: "Our experience flies in the face of some of the most recent property price statistics, which could mean that either prices are about to rise again or that many mortgage approvals will be lower than the amounts originally requested.

"One thing is for sure, these amounts are unsustainable, so it will be very interesting to see what happens in the months to come." The increase could be explained by borrowers asking for bigger loans, either because house prices have genuinely risen significantly in the capital, or because mortgage borrowers are over-estimating how much they need and requesting more before they put an offer in on a property.