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Almost a third of all mortgages lodged by AFG brokers in the second quarter of the financial year 2025 were for investors, according to new data.
Brokers aggregating under major aggregator Australian Finance Group (AFG) wrote the largest volume of investment loans for eight years during the second quarter of the financial year ending 30 June 2025 (FY25), according to the latest data from the group.
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The ASX-listed aggregator’s latest AFG Index, released on Tuesday (21 January), revealed that investor loans accounted for 33 per cent of all mortgages lodged by AFG brokers over 2Q25, the highest percentage recorded since 2Q17.
This result represented a 10 per cent increase on the proportion of investor loans measured during the corresponding period in FY24 (30 per cent) and the sixth successive quarter where investor loans made up 30 per cent or more of the mortgages lodged by AFG brokers.
The data mirrors an overall trend of high investor activity in Australia.
Refinancing dwindles
While investor activity has been booming, AFG found that refinancing activity continues to fall.
Over the three months to December 2024, 24 per cent of mortgages lodged by AFG brokers were for refinances, the lowest percentage recorded since 3Q22 (24 per cent).
Meanwhile, first home buyers continued to account for a small proportion of the overall market, with this segment’s percentage of flows flat at 11 per cent for the second successive quarter.
These figures come off the back of a record start to the fiscal year for AFG brokers, who lodged $49.4 billion in residential loans over the six months to December 2024, representing an 18 per cent increase on the same period in FY24 ($42 billion).
This result was driven by an increase in the average national loan size lodged by AFG brokers rather than the number of loans.
In the three months to December 2024, average loan size hit a record high of $674,284, but the number of loans lodged (37,426) was below the record-breaking volumes recorded during 1Q22 (40,098).
AFG CEO David Bailey said a healthy property market, strong employment and migration, and stable interest rates had created an “environment of confidence” for prospective borrowers.
“This level of lodgements hasn’t been observed since early 2022,” Bailey said.
Major market share
This quarter also saw major banks increase their market share by 5.1 per cent to 61 per cent, up from 55.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
The majors were particularly dominant in the first home buyers segment, accounting for 70.6 per cent of lodgements – up from 67.3 per cent in 1Q1 FY25. Their market share of refinancing lodgements also spiked to 57.9 per cent, up from 50.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
AFG also noted the potential impact of the ANZ/Suncorp merger on the figures, with Suncorp data now falling under the major category.
“With the completion of the acquisition of Suncorp by ANZ late last year, Suncorp’s data is now included in the Major category of the AFG Index, accounting for just over half of the lift in market share for the country’s Big 4 lenders and their associated brands,” Bailey said.
[Related: AFG brokers lodging record volumes]
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