The rate at which Britons are using their savings to pay down their mortgage debt has fallen sharply, according to new Bank of England figures.
Homeowners are still paying down equity in their property, but the £10.4 billion of equity they pumped into their homes in the third quarter was £2 billion lower than three months earlier.
It is also the lowest figure since the fourth quarter of 2009.
This follows the recent news that remortgaging customers have been withdrawing record amounts of equity to fund a Christmas spending spree.
New figures also showed that households saved just 5.4% of their disposable into the third quarter, down from 6.2% in the second.
The question is whether people are running short of cash, or feeling confident enough to start spending again as the economy starts to recover.
Ashley Brown, director of independent mortgage broker, Moneysprite, said that despite the slowdown, large numbers of Britons are still focusing on paying down their debts.
"For the 22nd quarter in a row, people continue to pay down their mortgage debt. This is a positive for the longer term stability of the housing market and indeed economy as debt levels are reducing.
"The average UK household is still tottering under a lot of debt and any step towards reducing this, especially with interest rate rises to come, can only be beneficial.
"I also think there has been a fundamental change in the way many people look at their homes. People are far more cautious these days and fewer see their property as merely a cash machine that can be relentlessly drawn from with little regard to the consequences.
"Whether this conservative approach to mortgage debt continues as the economy recovers remains to be seen."
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