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Bumper March for McGrath's mortgage broker arm

By Staff Reporter
12 April 2012 | 5 minute read

Staff Reporter

McGrath Real Estate’s mortgage broker offshoot Oxygen Home Loans has generated an 80 per cent on-year rise in loan applications in March on the back of high referral numbers, the company reported.

Proving the property market is still incredibly active, Oxygen Home Loans lodged more than $135 million in home loan applications for the month of March – up 80 per cent on the same time last year.

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Oxygen general manager James Green said the company’s milestone result came on the back of a 113 per cent year on year increase in new mortgage enquiries in February and 85 per cent year on year increase in March.

“A large proportion of the applicants are buyers of McGrath properties reflecting the success of offering a streamlined one stop shop for property transactions,” Mr Green said.

“The big growth area for Oxygen has been from up-graders.”

“Correspondingly we have seen an increase in the average loan amount to over $630,000, the highest monthly figure recorded.”

Mr Green said over 90 per cent of lodgements were approved in principal and the figure provided a good indicator of market activity and sentiment.

“The introduction of the National Consumer Protection Act made it much harder for customers to access Low Doc loans and banks are taking a more prudent approach to lending,” Mr Green said.

“However, they clearly have an appetite to lend in situations where the buyer can provide sufficient equity and documentation to demonstrate their capacity to service the loan.”

McGrath Estate Agents Chief Executive John McGrath said Oxygen’s success could be attributed to the group’s commitment to six star service.

“When people buy or sell property they are usually trading the most valuable asset they own,” said Mr McGrath.

"They expect professionalism and accountability and that is what they know they will get from both McGrath and Oxygen.”

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