Mortgage lending hits record high

If anyone needed more proof of just how hot the property market is right now, look no further than the latest mortgage figures.

Lending in November hit a new record high – with investors responsible for the bulk of the increase.

Here’s a number to chew over at Christmas lunch tomorrow – $9.3 billion. That’s the total value of mortgages taken out by Kiwis in November. It’s a new record high, up a huge 37 percent on last year.

But who can afford to buy in this market? Well FOMO – the fear of missing out – is driving first-home buyers to rush in. They borrowed $5.3b in November – 24 percent more than last year.

But the real game-changer is investors. They’ve swarmed the property market, borrowing $4b last month – a huge 57 percent more than last year.

But for some of them the party’s about to end.

It was the night before Christmas and some eager home buyers were signing the bottom line on Thursday.

“Our people are flat-out, our finance department is paying out contracts today right up on Christmas Eve,” says Harcourts managing director Martin Cooper.

Cooper expected demand to drop – well, we know that didn’t happen.

“It’s brought everyone back to property, thinking ‘my home is where I’m safe, it’s secure for me’. So there’s massive interest in property, and with these low-interest rates it’s going gangbusters,” he says.