Millions of homeowners are facing a big hike in mortgage payments with interest rates set to double, according to industry bosses.
But a Coventry-based expert this morning said the claims were "completely unrealistic" and not in line with current market conditions.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders predicted today that interest rates could rise to 5.25 per cent by the end of the year.
Director-general Michael Coogan said: "We are not expecting a house price crash. We expect there to be a slowdown."
Mr Coogan said house price rises would continue to be above 10 per cent this year, but they would slow down to 8 per cent next year.
Asked what action the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England should take, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We expect them to put interest rates up over the rest of this year to 5.25 per cent. They are not going to target house prices, they don't need to."
But Harvey Williams, local and national housing spokesman for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, refuted the prediction.
He said: "This scenario is totally unrealistic and we do not in any way feel that mortgage rates are likely to double.
"The circumstances at the moment both in housing and interest rates are totally different to the circumstances in the late 1980s and early '90s when mortgage rates were at ten per cent.
"That was against a background of ravaging inflation and huge unemployment."
The CML said its central fore-cast for end-of-year rates of 5.25 per cent was far higher than the 4.5 per cent it predicted in January. The CML represents banks and building societies.