First-home buyer representation hits five-year high in latest ABS lending data

PHOTO: First-home buyers have upped their share of new loans to 18 per cent – the highest it has been since 2012. Photo: Jessica Shapiro.

First-home buyers have again lifted their claim on new mortgage lending in Australia, according to official data, with experts calling 2018 the year of the first-home buyer comeback.

The number of loans written to first-home buyers, as a percentage of total owner-occupied loans, rose to 18 per cent in November 2017 from 17.6 per cent in the previous month, ABS housing finance data show.

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