The Australian Finance Group (AFG), Australia’s biggest mortgage firm, has recorded an 18.4 percent increase in mortgage applications in November, worth approximately A$2.9 billion (S$3.8 billion).
The firm said investors were encouraged by the interest rate cut implemented by the central bank.
According to data published by the AFG, fixed rate mortgages dropped to 17.2 percent, while the average size of all mortgages increased to A$396,000 (S$518,543) from the previous A$395,000 (S$517,324).
Meanwhile, the Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA), has set up a new website to help homeowners who are facing difficulty paying off their mortgages.
ABA Chief, Steve Munchenberg, said the website is a way for mortgage customers to communicate with their banks and figure out ways to acquire financial assistance if they can no longer service their loans.
“In reality the bank has a bunch of programmes in place to help people in those situations. We would rather find out if you’re under pressure early to make sure we can all work through that, rather than have people hide that fact and then get into a state where it’s much harder to pay it all back,” said Munchenberg.
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