A major aggregator has recorded a 58% increase in mortgage volumes over February, as well as broken a 21 year record.
AFG processed $4.3 billion of mortgages in February, which is 58% higher than in January and 16% higher than in February 2014.
The month also saw the aggregator break a new record. Last Wednesday, 25th February, AFG processed a record $280 million. This is the largest single day’s volume AFG has recorded in its 21 year history.
“February is the real start to the mortgage year and overall we’re off to a flying start this year. No doubt the February rate cut has made borrowers more confident, but it’s important to recognize the significant variations from one state to another,” Mark Hewitt, AFG’s general manager of sales and operations said.
“We’re also keeping a close eye on the proportion of investors, but this hasn’t changed on the levels we’ve been seeing for the past twelve months.”
Loans to investors comprised 39.6% of all home loans processed last month, a similar figure to those reported each month for the past year.
Not surprisingly on the back of another rate cut, fixed rate mortgages declined as a percentage of all home loans to 13.6%. This is the lowest level recorded since August 2011, when only 9.4% of borrowers chose fixed rate loans.
Meanwhile, the rise of introductory loans continued to a fresh high of 7.9% in February, indicating the proportion of borrowers opting to move to new lenders and enjoy an interest rate ‘honeymoon’.
