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AFG has reported extremely strong mortgage growth alongside a major increase in refinances.
The aggregator sold 8,510 home loans in December 2014, which marked an 18 per cent increase on the previous year. The value of those mortgages jumped 23.7 per cent to $3.8 billion.
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The average mortgage climbed 4.8 per cent to $444,000, while the average LVR rose from 67.3 per cent to 68.2 per cent.
Investors increased their market share from 38.8 per cent to 39.4 per cent, while first home buyers slumped from 10.2 per cent to 6.9 per cent.
The share of mortgage refinances grew from 35.1 per cent to 37.3 per cent – the highest level in almost three years, according to Mark Hewitt, general manager of sales and operations.
“The last time we saw refinancing at these levels, in March 2012, borrowers were acting to lock in rates, and fixed-interest loans reached a four-year high,” Mr Hewitt said.
“This time round, with speculation that interest rates are more likely to go down than up, borrowers are shopping around for the variable-rate deal and avoiding fixed for the time being.”
AFG processed a record $4.8 billion of loans in October and recently announced that it had grown its loan book to $100 billion.
