Ray Boulger at brokers Charcol has claimed the recent increase in five-year fixed rates is a lender bid to curb soaring demand rather than a sign that mortgage finance is getting more expensive.
Barclays, NatWest, and Santander have all increased their five-year fixed rates this year, as have building societies Chelsea, Norwich & Peterborough and the Yorkshire.
Rates have increased by between 0.3% and 0.7%.
Some have seen this as a sign that the great mortgage rate rise has begun, but Boulger said the most likely reason is that lenders are struggling to deal with the surge in demand.
"Application volumes in January were well above the levels most lenders had budgeted for and as a result some lenders' admin is beginning to creak.
"The most obvious ways for a lender to ease the pressure are to increase prices or withdraw some products.
"Providing they don't price themselves out of the market completely this has the knock-on benefit of substantially increasing margins on new business."
Rising rates initially looked like a delayed reaction to the increase in swap rates in December, but this is no longer a realistic assumption, given that swap rates have fallen this year, he said.
"The recent peak in five and 10-year swap rates was on 27 December, at 2.19% and 3.05% respectively. Yesterday's closing rates were 28 basis points lower at 1.91% and 2.77%.
"Swap rates are now also lower than they were five months ago."
Boulger ruled out the forthcoming Mortgage Market Review as a factor in rising rates.
Not every lender has increased rates, and there are still plenty of good value deals to choose from, he said.
"The short-term message for anyone wanting a five-year fix is not to hang around, rates are only going one way in the short term.
"But most indications are still that bank rate will not rise until at least the second half of next year, and quite possibly not until 2016."
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