Mortgage borrowing fell to £4.1 billion in April, down from £6.4 billion in March, according to figures from the Bank of England.

The number of mortgages approved for house purchases also decreased to 66,000 in April from 69,500 in March.

Both measures are slightly below their 12-month pre-pandemic averages, said the Bank.

It’s a sign that the heat could be starting to come out of the peorpety market, as the cost of living crises starts to bite and following four consecutive increases in interest rates.

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Mortgage approvals are a useful measure of the health of the property market, because they indicate buyer enthusiasm over the coming weeks. The fact that approvals dropped below the pre-pandemic average in April is yet another sign of the heat coming out of the market.

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“We’re still not expecting average house prices to fall at this stage, but we can expect price rises to slow significantly, and the market to become increasingly sluggish as we go through the year.”

Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at interactive investor, added: “Homebuyers are being hit by a triple whammy of surging house prices, rising mortgage rates and the cost-of-living squeeze – forcing many with aspirations to climb up the property ladder to dream on.

“Homebuyers’ attempts to stretch their budgets to purchase a property is increasingly being thwarted by the cost-of-living crisis, with inflation surging to 40 year high and expected to reach double digits soon.

“The likelihood of higher interest rates to combat soaring inflation means that things are set to get tougher from an affordability perspective.”