Lending up in Q4
Australia's largest mortgage aggregator Australian Finance Group (AFG) provides a good early ready on mortgage lodgement volumes, and the results for the December quarter were solid, up 19 per cent from the prior corresponding period.
First homebuyer levels hit the highest result since 2013, while non-major banks accounted for 47 per cent of lodgements in the September quarter, marking the highest market share since 2007.
There's some evidence to suggest that borrowers took advantage of stronger capacity after the election, with the average mortgage size up 6 per cent by the end of calendar year 2019 to $539,000 (from $508,000 a year earlier).
The increase in mortgage size was driven by New South Wales (+6.2 per cent or $38,000 in 2019), and Victoria (+7 per cent or $35,000).
The other state to see a record high mortgage size was South Australia.
Overall, solid volumes were reported by AFG, a precursor to a more sprightly beginning to activity in 2020.
