Refinancing activity up: AFG
Refinancing continues to be the main reason for taking out home finance, according to AFG’s latest Mortgage Index.
The Index found that 38.0 per cent of all mortgages were arranged for refinancing purposes, while only 15.4 per cent of all mortgages arranged in May were sold to upgraders.
Investors accounted for 36.7 per cent of all activity, while 9.9 per cent of all mortgages arranged in May were for first home buyers.
According to AFG, a mortgage aggregator, the 15.4 per cent of upgraders is the lowest recorded for a year, and significantly lower than the 18.0 per cent average.
AFG’s general manager sales and operations Mark Hewitt said May represented a “month of two halves” for the mortgage aggregator.
“We started the month with strong demand, particularly from investors, but the May rate rise, combined with all the other worrying economic news, really took all the heat out of the market,” Mr Hewitt said.
“I have just spent the past week meeting many brokers from around the country and the feeling is one of deepening concern. After a period of rebuilding confidence and return to normal market conditions last year, people are feeling quite uncertain about the state of the economy.”