Investors inflate mortgage boom
Property investors have driven a home loan boom, according to new figures from Australian Finance Group (AFG), which arranged $2 billion of mortgages last month.
That equates to a 15 per cent increase over December 2006 figures, with growth largely driven by investors and the top end of the property market, according to the broker.
The proportion of mortgages arranged for investors by AFG, compared to owner occupiers, was robust in December averaging one-third of all home loans, with particularly strong investment in Western Australia and Queensland where resource-driven local economies have seen housing affordability problems translate into rising rental yields.
As well as strong sales, loan value ratios (LVR) fell to their lowest level ever recorded with the national average LVR falling to 62.8 per cent, which is down from August highs of 70.7 per cent.
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