Mortgage debt has grown at an annual rate of just 1% in the last five years, a fraction of its growth rate before the financial crisis.
This compares to average growth of 12% a year between 2003 and 2007, according to figures from Lloyds Bank Private Banking.
Low mortgage rates and more cash purchases have helped ease the overall mortgage debt burden in the past five years.
Household wealth has risen sharply since 2003, despite the shock of the financial crisis.
Rising property prices and stock markets have pushed up household wealth at a faster pace than either disposable income and inflation.
Since 2003, total household wealth has risen by more than £3 trillion to nearly £8 trillion, the equivalent of £96,000 per household.
House price growth and financial assets such as bank deposits, shares and pensions have pushed up wealth by 64%.
Over the same period, gross household disposable incomes rose 44%, while consumer price inflation rose 30%.
Ashish Misra, head of investment policy at Lloyds Bank Private Banking, said: "In the past year, household wealth grew by £717 billion, the largest annual rise in the decade.
"Increasing activity in the housing market and continued growth in equity prices has boosted household wealth. These figures, to an extent, provide further evidence that the recovery in the UK economy is gathering pace."
Total property values have risen by £1.72 trillion since 2003, almost three-and-a-half times the rise in mortgage debt, which increased by £503 billion.
Housing wealth has therefore has grown by £1.22 trillion since 2003, a rise of 58%.
In the past decade, mortgage debt has grown from £775 billion to £1.3 trillion, a rise of 65%.
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