Rob Gill, Altura Mortgage Finance's managing director, said his firm received double the calls it normally receives in the past couple of days, with most customers looking to lock down mortgage deals as soon as possible due to increasing interest rates.
He describes the situation as a standoff with some lenders pulling out completely.
He says that the pace of change is the problem right now.
Mortgage rates have gone up by 2.5% to 3% since the end of last year. The mortgage and property markets have coped well at that rate of change.
It looks like we might get a similar rise within a few days in the current environment. If it happens, it would cause a crash in house prices.
I am looking at my emails to see what the rates will be. There may not be much we can help with right now.
He says that lenders will come back with rates that are achievable or if they come back with rates at 5% or 6%, clients might not want to buy that property with that interest rate.
Kate Fuller, business principal at the Mortgage Advice Bureau in Crawley, says the environment for brokers is very stressful and that it has ramped up.
There is a little bit more urgency, normally we ask people for things and it comes in dribs and drabs.