'Fiercely competitive’ truth behind the housing market
By Blair Jackson
The size of mortgages taken by Australians and the number of home loans written by lenders has accelerated hugely, the latest Government data shows.
The figures released on Wednesday show the Federal Government’s expanded 5 per cent deposit scheme has lit a fire under homebuyers, but saddled many with increasingly large mortgages.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows for the final three months of 2025, the number of new owner-occupier, first homebuyer mortgages rose 6.8 per cent – compared to the previous three months – and the value of these loans rose 15.5 per cent.
Over 31,780 owner-occupier, first-home buyer loans were written in October, November and December. The largest rises were in NSW (10.9 per cent increase), WA (9.8 per cent), and the ACT (7.1 per cent). Only Tasmania went backwards.