by Sanjeev Sah | May 07, 2024 | Market Updates

Australian Bureau of Statistics lending data shows the value of new loan commitments for housing surged 13.3% to $26.4 billion over the year to February. 

This increase was largely fuelled by a 21.5% rise in loans to investors, who now represent 36% of all new lending – the highest proportion since January 2017 (see PropTrack graph below). 

So what’s tempting investors back into the market? 

Well, for one thing, there’s the tight rental market, with Domain reporting a national vacancy rate of just 0.7% in March.  

This shortage of properties has caused rents to soar, with weekly rents for houses in the combined capitals climbing 10.5% year-on-year. Unit rents have surged 12.7% in the same period.  

For another, dwelling prices have reached record levels after 14 months of continuous price growth.