PHOTO: A record number of borrowers admitted to providing misleading financial information. ABC News: Stephanie Chalmers

The number of home loan applicants obtaining a mortgage after inflating their income and downplaying their living costs has jumped to record levels, according to research by global investment bank UBS.

Key points:

  • Among the borrowers who admitted to obtaining ‘liar loans’, many of them were customers of the big four banks
  • For people who had their mortgage applications rejected twice, 76pc of them conceded they provided inaccurate or misleading information
  • 48pc of applicants who hired a mortgage broker said they “suggested [we] over/under represent” their income and expenses

Thirty-seven per cent of borrowers were not entirely honest in their mortgage applications, the bank’s anonymous survey of 903 Australians revealed — despite tougher lending standards imposed since the banking royal commission.

The surge in so-called “liar loans” comes amid a rise in property prices, rebounding auction clearance rates and the Reserve Bank’s widely-expected interest rate cut on Tuesday.

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