The clampdown on investment lending from regulatory bodies such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has not deterred people from investing in property.
In the June quarter this year, new investment loans to households actually surged by 20 per cent. No doubt spurred by record low interest rates, APRA statistics have revealed that almost $41 billion worth of investment loans were approved in the quarter.
It wasn’t just investors that recorded a jump in the quarter. New loans to owner-occupiers also recorded a jump in approvals, albeit not as much as investor loans, jumping by 16 per cent.
The APRA statistics show that the total value of investment loans by Australian lenders was $518.3 billion at the end of the 2015 financial year.
These investment loans represent 39 per cent of all home loans, a jump from 35.5 per cent the previous year.
As for the June quarter of 2015 and the major banks, they approved $33.5 billion worth of investment loans over that time, which was a 20 per cent jump from the March quarter.
The total value of investment loans of the major banks at the end of the June quarter was $437.5 billion, which makes up 41 per cent of the majors’ total loan books.
