Australia hits mortgage peak

Last month saw a new record set for the average mortgage size in Australia, new data has shown.

The Australian Finance Group (AFG) mortgage index revealed that the mean home loan in the country was AUD367,000 (GBP204,000), up 6.4 per cent since May.

It noted that such a trend has come at a time when investors have shown evidence of regarding Australian property as a good asset to hold, with 33.8 per cent of those taking out mortgages falling into this category in November, up from 24.7 per cent in March.

Regional variations have seen the largest increases coming in the states of Victoria at 12.1 per cent and New South Wales at 10.7 per cent, while in Western Australia the rise was only three per cent and Queensland has seen no change.

The increase in mortgage sizes has come despite the Reserve Bank of Australia embarking on a policy of raising interest rates.

Earlier this week, it raised the cash rate by 0.25 per cent to 3.75 per cent, the third hike of such an amount after the level had been set at three per cent between April and October this year.

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