Lending boomed in the December quarter 2025, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The figures show strong growth across all borrower types this quarter, with the number of first home buyer loans up by 6.8 per cent, investor loans rising 5.5 per cent and owner-occupier non-first home buyer loans up 3.6 percent.
ABS head of finance statistics Dr Mish Tan noted that this was the largest rise in the number of first home buyer loans since the December quarter 2023, and their value increased by 15.5 percent.
Tan attributes much of the boost to changes in policies supporting first home-buyers this quarter, including the expansion of the Australian Government 5 per cent Deposit Scheme and the introduction of the Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme.
The number of first home buyer owner-occupied loans rose by 2,011 loans (6.8 per cent) to 31,783 in the December quarter, and 9.1 per cent through the year.
Growth was recorded in New South Wales (up 10.9 per cent), Queensland (6.4 per cent), Victoria (3.5 per cent), Western Australia (9.8 per cent), South Australia (4.8 per cent), Australian Capital Territory (7.1 per cent) and Northern Territory (3.2 per cent), while there was a fall in Tasmania (down 1.7 per cent).
“The size of the average first home buyer loan rose by a record 8.5 per cent to $607,624 this quarter and was largely driven by first home buyers in NSW”, Tan said.
“The Australian Government 5 per cent Deposit Scheme has increased the eligibility criteria for first home buyers and we are seeing the early effects of this in our data.”
There were 60,445 new investment loans approved in the December quarter 2025, a 5.5 per cent (3,176 loans) rise compared to the previous quarter, and 23.6 per cent higher than the December quarter 2024. The total value of new investment loans was $43.0 billion in the December quarter, a rise of 7.9 per cent ($3.2 billion). The average loan size rose over the quarter by $31,008 to $716,711.
Growth was seen in the number of investment loans across all states: Victoria (up 8.8 per cent), New South Wales (4.1 per cent), Queensland (3.3 per cent), Western Australia (4.6 per cent), Tasmania (28.2 per cent) and South Australia (2.8 per cent). There were falls across the territories, however, with the Northern Territory down 9.3 per cent and the Australian Capital Territory down 4.3 per cent.