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One of Australia's largest mortgage groups processed a record $280 million last Wednesday – the largest single day’s volume in the group's 21-year history.
AFG recorded a 58 per cent surge in home loans processed in February, with a total of $4.3 billion worth of mortgages processed for the month.
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Mortgage volumes varied significantly from state to state, with South Australia showing the greatest increase of 31 per cent on February 2014.
New South Wales mortgage volumes rose by 25 per cent, while Victoria's and Queensland's grew by 21 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
However, Western Australia bucked the trend by processing four per cent less in volumes compared to February 2014.
“February is the real start to the mortgage year and overall we’re off to a flying start this year,” AFG's general manager of sales and operations, Mark Hewitt, said.
“No doubt the February rate cut has made borrowers more confident, but it’s important to recognise the significant variations from one state to another."
Mr Hewitt said the group is keeping a close eye on the proportion of investor loans being written, but noted that it hasn’t changed on the levels AFG has been seeing for the past 12 months.
Loans to investors comprised 39.6 per cent of all home loans processed last month – a similar figure to those reported each month for the past year.
Fixed-rate mortgages declined as a percentage of all home loans to 13.6 per cent – the lowest since August 2011, when only 9.4 per cent of borrowers chose fixed-rate loans.
[Related: AFG denies bank takeover]
