Loan-to-value ratios (LVR’s) are in decline, with the latest AFG Mortgage Index figures showing them to be at their lowest level since 2012.
Average LVRs fell by 1.6 per cent in December, indicating a possible rise in the amount of investor activity.
LVRs tend to drop when there are a lot of investors purchasing property because they tend to have greater equity or access to funds than first home buyers.
New South Wales for example had an average LVR of just 65.4 per cent in December after seeing a healthy amount of investor activity in the latter half of the year.
Likewise, the states where first home buyers were most active – Western Australia and South Australia – recorded much higher average LVRs, 71.3 and 70 per cent respectively.
