Overall mortgage volumes processed by aggregator
AFG fell 9% from March to April.
This slump was attributed by the brokerage to the series of public holidays at the end of last month.
However, this April has still been AFG's strongest on record,
with 8,517 mortgage applications valued at $3,574 million processed over the month.
Overall numbers may have been down since March, but what has seen a surge last month is the proportion of property investors in Queensland .
Investor loans made up 38% of all new home loans processed in the state – up from 32% in February this year.
The AFG monthly mortgage index, released yesterday, shows investor activity in Queensland is now ahead of Victoria (37%), Southern Australia (33%) and Western Australia (32%).
Investor activity was second only to New South Wales, which still leads the nation with 47% of all new mortgages arranged for investors.
National loan to value ratios fell from 68.0% in March to 66.7% in April.
The shift was especially strong in QLD, where LVRs fell from 68% to 65%. This trend is in keeping with the growth of investment buyers, who typically use equity in existing properties to support their new purchases, AFG said.
Sales and Operations general manager Mark Hewitt had a possible explanation for investor activity gathering pace in Queensland.
“The very low numbers of first home buyers, both in New South Wales and Queensland, makes investor activity seem proportionally higher than in states like Western Australia where there is a more even mix in borrower types.
“Helping first home buyers get on the ladder should be a much more urgent priority for the governments of both New South Wales and Queensland.”
In April, first home buyers made up 22% all borrowers in Western Australia, 14% in Southern Australia, 11% in Victoria, 5% in Queensland and 3% in New South Wales.
First home buying activity slumped in these last two states after state grants were removed in September and October 2012 respectively.
Major lenders continued to win back business from non-majors in April, grabbing 75.2% of all new home loans – up from 73.1% in February.
The majors made particular inroads in the first home buyer market, where they attracted 72.2%, compared to 68.4% in March.
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