Nationwide building society has warned the London housing market may face a "natural correction" as it reported its best ever annual results.
The mutual's chief executive, Graham Beale said there was already a "slowing down in the market place".
It comes as Nationwide reported a four-fold rise in pre-tax annual profits to £677m, against £168m a year earlier.
Mr Beale told the BBC's business editor, Kamal Ahmed, buyers had started to baulk at ever higher house prices.
"At some point buyers just start saying no," he added.
Nationwide said it increased mortgage lending by 31% to £28.1bn in the year to 4 April on the back of the recovery in the housing market.
First-time buyersThe mutual said it had also approved 31% of all mortgages advanced within the government's Help to Buy scheme, designed to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder.
But it added the number of mortgages it advanced to borrowers with a deposit of 10% or less of a property's purchase value - which would account for a majority of first-time buyers - remained low, at 2.4% of its total lending for the year.
On Tuesday, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) said mortgage lending in April hit a six year high of £12.2bn. But at the same time the number of mortgage approvals fell to an eight month low, suggesting fewer people are borrowing more as house prices continue to accelerate.
And the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed average property values increased by 8% in the year to March to £252,000, down slightly from the 9.2% rise recorded a month earlier.
State-backed Lloyds Banking Group recently announced it would restrict lending to four times a borrower's income for mortgage applications of £500,000 or more. There has been speculation that Royal Bank of Scotland may soon follow suit.
'Compelling alternative'Nationwide also saw an increase of £4.9bn in savers' deposits to £130.5bn, equal to a 12.1% share of the total savings market.
Mr Beale, said the mutual continued to offer "a clear and compelling alternative to the established banks".
Underlying pre-tax profits rose 113% to £924m in the year to 4 April from £433m a year earlier.
New and existing customers opened more than 430,000 new current accounts, an 18% increase compared with a year before.
Nationwide said it had increased its overall market share of current account customers to 5.5 million accounts or 6.2% in February - the most recent figures available - up from 5.7% a year earlier, helped by new rules that make it quicker and easier for people to switch their current account to another provider.
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