Despite recent figures from the Bank of England (BoE) indicating a rise in mortgage approvals last month, the market remains weak, it has been suggested.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the statistics are still low compared with previous levels.
The BoE data showed that mortgage approvals for home purchases totalled 47,584 over the 30-day period.
This was an increase on the 44,169 approvals recorded in May.
Remortgaging activity was also up, with 35,011 approvals in June compared with 31,874 the previous month.
Responding to the figures, CML economist Paul Samter said: "This is consistent with the improvement in housing market sentiment, but the outlook is still sluggish, as capacity constraints on the lending industry and continuing deterioration in the labour market will act as a brake on the pick-up."
He added that, while activity in the mortgage market is more positive than it was at the start of the year, any recovery will be slow.