Chancellor Gordon Brown has dismissed predictions of a housing market crash, delivering a buoyant speech in Washington this weekend.

Speaking at meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the chancellor was upbeat about the UK economy and said that the cost of servicing debt in relation to incomes remains very low.

The International Monetary Fund has previously warned the risk of a collapse in house prices is the single biggest threat to the economy but Brown was likely also responding to doom and gloom merchants such as such as Roger Bootle and Tony Dye who have argued that home-buyers are becoming dangerously over-stretched by rising prices.

Questioned by reporters after the meetings, Brown pointed to his budget forecast of more balanced economic growth over the course of the year. "While house prices have certainly risen, as everybody knows, what is also the case is that people's debt servicing payments, mortgage payments as a share of their income are still far lower than they were 10 years ago," Brown said.

Brown pointed to the G7 statement, which said the global economic recovery continues to strengthen and was becoming more broadly balanced. "It was generally acknowledged that Britain and the U.S. are leading the world economic recovery," he said.

But the chancellor also admitted risks to the economies remained. Among them were current account imbalances, the lack of progress in trade talks, commodity and oil prices.