This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MORTGAGE aggregator Australian Finance Group (ASX: AFG) recorded $23.3 billion in mortgage finance lodged over Q4 2024, its largest volume since Q2 2022 and its bigger ever for the fourth quarter.
The group ended the year with a total of $23,314,816,089 in mortgage finance, after more than 36,000 lodgements were filed in the last quarter, up from the $20 billion in home loans recorded over the third quarter.
“Broker activity over the quarter was high and lodgement numbers hit more than 36,395 in the final three months of the 2024 financial year,” said David Bailey, CEO at AFG.
“This lift was led by compelling contributions from Western Australia and New South Wales which saw a jump in volumes of 22.02% and 18.7% respectively. Other states also contributed strongly with increases in Queensland (up 12.2%), South Australia (10.7%), and Victoria (10.4%).”
The average loan size was up by almost $12,000 compared to the previous quarter, reaching the largest loan size on record for AFG, at $640,605.
This is in line with the latest lending data from the ABS, with the average new owner-occupier mortgage hitting a new record high over May, up 0.04% to $626,055.
Over the quarter, AFG’s investment loans were up from 31% to 32%, with loan refinancing dropping from 27% to 26% and Interest Only loans up from 19% to 21%.
“Whilst total investor loan lodgements for the quarter increased by 16% ($1 billion) on the same period of FY23, and 19% on the prior quarter, Victoria’s share of investor loans has dipped below its long-term average in Q4 2024,” added Bailey.
“It will be interesting to see if the Victorian state government property tax changes continue to impact the attractiveness of property investment in the education state.”
Meanwhile, the major lender market share was down to their lowest level since Q4 2022, at 57.2% from 61.5% over the last quarter.
“The major lenders and their associated brands are still ahead of the non-majors,” said Bailey.
“However, in a sign of competition slowly returning to the market, the non-majors did report market share increases across the board for the quarter, picking up market share with Investors, First Home Buyers, Refinancers and Upgraders.”
Fixed Interest Rate products were up from 1.6% in the third quarter to 2.3% in Q4 2024, though this is still well below their longer term averages.
Over the last quarter, AFG Home Loans accounted for a market share of 7.64%, its best result since Q1 2023.
“Lender Turnaround Times from lodgement to formal approval came in at 16.4 days for the quarter, the lowest level since we began reporting this metric, concluded Bailey.
