Investor property lending levels still high, says AFG

Investor activity in the residential property market is still running at very high levels, according to mortgage aggregator AFG.

AFG's latest mortgage index shows that investor activity in Sydney and Melbourne in April was at the highest level the company has recorded in 21 years.

Investor mortgages made up 52.8 per cent of the applications received by AFG brokers in New South Wales in April. In Victoria the proportion was 40.9 per cent - up from 36.7 per cent the previous month.

Overall, investor mortgages made up 43.1 per cent of the 9661 loans written by AFG brokers in April.

The total amount of business was A$4.4 billion, with an average loan size of $453,000.

Borrowers had a strong preference for variable rate loans, with standard variable mortgage sales accounting for 70.3 per cent of the total. The proportion of fixed rate loans was 13.6 per cent.