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Mortgage lending figures have continued to surge thanks to a 27.4 per cent jump in investor finance.
Housing finance commitments for September reached $28.9 billion, which marked a 14.8 per cent increase on the previous year, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
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The owner-occupied share rose 7.3 per cent to $16.9 billion, while the investor share rose 27.4 per cent to $11.9 billion.
Investors represented 41.4 per cent of finance commitments in September – up from 37.3 per cent the year before.
First home buyers represented 12.0 per cent of owner-occupied finance commitments – down from 12.5 per cent.
The average loan size in September climbed 6.9 per cent to $326,500.
Although the value of finance commitments increased, the number of commitments actually decreased, falling 0.9 per cent to 51,500.
That was driven by a 3.1 per cent fall in the number of established dwelling commitments to 42,200.
However, new dwelling commitments rose 2.8 per cent to 3,000 and construction commitments jumped 15.1 per cent to 6,300.
Harley Dale, chief economist of the Housing Industry Association, said the September statistics suggested a positive short-term outlook for new home construction.
"The aggregate number of loans for first home buyers is still very low from a historical perspective," he said.
"Policy reform is vital to turning this situation around and needs to be aimed at the excessive and inefficient taxes and regulation levied on housing."
[Related: ABS statistics for August]
