New figures show that the number of borrowers who opted to take out variable-rate mortgages jumped by more than 50% in July, which may indicate that consumers are beginning to believe that interest rates have peaked.

Research carried out by Spicerhaart Financial Services shows that 86% of people taking out a home loan still decided to opt for a fixed-rate deal during the month.

In doing so they guarantee their monthly repayments will remain the same for the length of the fixed-rate term.

However, the number of people taking out a variable-rate mortgage rose from 9% in June to 14% in July.

The group said this is the highest proportion of variable-rate mortgages - which move up and down in line with interest rates - to be taken out since October last year.

Of the 14% of those who took out a variable-rate loan, 11% of homeowners decided to choose a mortgage that tracked the Bank of England base rate.

A further 1.7% went for a discount deal while 1.3% chose other variable rates.

Among those taking out fixed-rate mortgages, 55% went for a two-year deal, which is down from 60% in June, while 13% fixed for three years and 18% fixed for four or more years, both the same as during the previous month.

The study also shows that the proportion of people who borrowed more than 95% of the value of their property rose for the sixth month in a row to reach 21%.

Steve Cox, operations director of Spicerhaart Financial Services, said: "The increasing proportion of variable mortgages indicates that borrowers are starting to believe that interest rates have finally peaked, as inflation stabilises, and are likely to come back down again before the end of the year.

"With interest rates still historically low, homeowners and first-time buyers, still confident in their financial security, are as keen as ever to move up the property ladder, even if this means borrowing slightly more."

The research was based on a sample of 1,100 mortgages which were arranged by Spicerhaart Financial Services during July.

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