Login
iscover
The average home loan in Australia increased by 8 per cent during 2009, data from Loan Market Group has found.
According to the mortgage broker’s national manager for operations and risk Ivan Karamatic, the average loan size grew from $281,818 in December 2008, to $304,266 in December, 2009.
Mr Karamatic said the increase in the average level of housing debt was in line with the rise in property prices over the past 12 months.
“The median price for property in Australia rose by 11.3 per cent last year which confirms the underlying reason for the increase in the average loan size,” he said.
“A lot of experts were predicting a year ago that the property market would take a big hit during 2009 with house prices falling dramatically due to the global financial crisis.
“But government economic stimulus measures such as boosting the First Home Owners Grant helped buffer residential real estate markets.”
Even though the First Home Buyers Grant has now returned to its normal level, Mr Karamatic said he expects the average loan size to continue to grow throughout 2010.
“Finance is harder to obtain with the major banks tightening their lending regimes, but demand is still likely to be strong,” he said.
