Property finance statistics 2026: Australian home, investor and commercial lending in numbers

• New home and investment lending
• Refinancing
• Interest rates and credit growth
• Arrears, buffers and borrower stress
• The bank loan book: LVR, DTI, investors and commercial property
• Mortgage brokers
• SMSF property lending
• Property values and turnover
• Construction, development and supply
• First home buyers, deposits and self employed borrowers
• What people are actually asking
• How to use these figures
• Sources
• Frequently asked questions

New home and investment lending

The ABS counts every new housing loan commitment each quarter. These are the June quarter 2026 figures, seasonally adjusted and excluding refinancing.

• $97.6 billion of new housing loans were committed in the June quarter 2026, down 5.2% on the March quarter but 6.8% higher than a year earlier. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• 134,225 new housing loans were written in the quarter, down 5.4% on the previous quarter and flat on a year earlier. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• $60.5 billion went to owner-occupiers across 81,626 loans, up 6.0% in value on a year earlier. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• $37.1 billion went to investors across 52,599 loans. Investor lending fell 10.2% in the quarter but was still 8.1% up on a year earlier. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• 38.0% of new dwelling lending by value was for investment (derived from the ABS owner-occupier and investor totals). (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• 29,319 first home buyer loans worth $18.4 billion were written in the quarter, 35.9% of all owner-occupier loans by number. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• $731,000 was the average new owner-occupier loan, up 7.8% in a year from $678,000. The average new investor loan was $708,000, up 5.2%. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• $627,000 was the average first home buyer loan, up about 10% in a year. (ABS data via SA Treasury Housing Finance briefing, June 2026)

Refinancing

Refinancing is counted separately from new purchase lending. Investor refinancing is growing faster than owner-occupier refinancing.

• $41.9 billion of owner-occupier loans were refinanced to another lender in the June quarter 2026 (66,449 loans), up 2.8% on a year earlier. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• $25.2 billion of investor loans were refinanced externally (36,597 loans), up 12.0% in value on a year earlier. (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)
• $67.1 billion of home and investment loans changed lender in a single quarter (derived from the two ABS refinancing series). (ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026)

Interest rates and credit growth

The 2025 rate cuts were fully unwound in 2026. These are the official figures as at October 2026.

• 4.60% is the RBA cash rate target after the 25 basis point rise decided on 29 September 2026, the fourth rise of 2026 and the highest level since October 2011. (RBA decision reported by Commonwealth Bank newsroom)
• 4.35% was the cash rate after the 5 May 2026 increase, the third rise of the year. (RBA media release 2026-12)
• 100 basis points of increases were delivered across 2026 (3.60% at the start of the year to 4.60% by the end of September), after three cuts through 2025. (RBA cash rate target history)
• 7.3% year-ended growth in housing credit in August 2026, with investor credit growth slowing from a 0.8% monthly average in the first half of the year to 0.3% in August. (RBA Financial Aggregates, August 2026)
• 10.9% year-ended growth in business credit in August 2026, well ahead of housing credit. (RBA Financial Aggregates, August 2026)

Arrears, buffers and borrower stress

The RBA and APRA both report that arrears are low and most borrowers are ahead, even after four rate rises.

• 1.01% of bank residential mortgages were non-performing at June 2026, with a further 0.54% between 30 and 89 days past due. (APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June 2026)
• Under 1% of mortgage borrowers are in negative equity. Around 5% would be if prices fell a further 20%. (RBA Financial Stability Review, October 2026)
• About 2% of variable rate owner-occupier borrowers had a cash flow shortfall in the first half of 2026. (RBA Financial Stability Review, October 2026)
• Over 1 year of scheduled repayments is the median borrower's prepayment buffer, and 90 day arrears are around pre-pandemic levels. (RBA Financial Stability Review, October 2026)
• 0.7% of banks' commercial real estate loans were non-performing at December 2025, with major bank CRE exposure a little over 8% of assets. (RBA Financial Stability Review, March 2026)
• 12.4% was the banking system's CET1 capital ratio at June 2026. Private credit is about 10% of business debt and non-bank lenders about 6% of financial system assets. (RBA Financial Stability Review, October 2026)

The bank loan book: LVR, DTI, investors and commercial property

APRA's quarterly property exposure statistics cover every bank, building society and credit union.

• $2,558.5 billion of residential mortgage credit was outstanding at June 2026, up 7.0% in a year. (APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June 2026)
• 31.2% of the bank housing loan book is investor lending and 66.7% is owner-occupied. (APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June 2026)
• $200.5 billion of new residential loans were funded by banks in the June quarter 2026, with investors taking 35.6% of them. (APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June 2026)
• 29.7% of new bank loans were written at an LVR of 80% or more. Loans at 80% LVR or above are 16.7% of the whole book. (APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June 2026)
• 5.6% of new bank loans were at a debt to income ratio of six or more (3.7% of owner-occupier loans, 8.9% of investor loans), down from 6.4% the quarter before the new cap took effect. (APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June and March 2026)
• 20% is APRA's cap on the share of new lending at six times income or more, applied separately to owner-occupier and investor lending from 1 February 2026. The serviceability buffer stays at 3 percentage points. (APRA media release, 27 November 2025)
• Under 5% of housing lending is written by non-bank lenders, and policy exceptions to serviceability rules are under 5% of new bank housing loans. (APRA submission to the Senate Select Committee on Productivity, April 2026)
• $501.6 billion of commercial property exposures were held by banks at June 2026, up 8.3% in a year, with approved limits of $541.0 billion. (APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June 2026)

Mortgage brokers

• 81.6% of all new residential home loans in the June quarter 2026 were settled through a mortgage broker, a record, up from 77.6% a year earlier and 73.7% two years earlier. (MFAA media release, September 2026)
• $139.08 billion was settled by brokers in the quarter, $17.49 billion more than the same quarter in 2025. (MFAA media release, September 2026)

SMSF property lending

Residential borrowing inside super changed in August 2026.

• 680,301 self managed super funds with 1,246,552 members held $1.107 trillion in assets at June 2026. (ATO SMSF quarterly statistical report, June 2026)
• 7% of SMSF assets were held under limited recourse borrowing arrangements at 30 June 2025, and non-residential real property was 10% of all SMSF assets. (ATO SMSF statistical overview 2024-25)
• 16,000+ new residential SMSF loans secured on $10.3 billion of property were written in 2025-26 by 13 AFIA member lenders, at an average LVR of 67%. (AFIA data reported by The Adviser)
• 10 August 2026 is the date from which new residential property LRBAs are banned. Existing loans, refinances and contracts signed before that date are grandfathered, and business real property borrowing is still allowed. (Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026)

Property values and turnover

• -5.2% is how far national home values have fallen from their March 2026 peak after six straight monthly declines. Sydney is down 7.0% in a year, Melbourne 6.2%, while Perth is up 10.1% and Darwin 11.9%. (Cotality Home Value Index, September 2026)
• $899,236 is the national median dwelling value. Sydney $1,198,596, Brisbane $1,048,880, Perth $975,022, Adelaide $928,560, Melbourne $780,550. Rents are up 5.5% in a year and the gross yield is 3.85%. (Cotality Home Value Index, September 2026 (tabulated by Property Investment Professionals))
• 39 days is the median time on market, up from 23 a year earlier. Sales volumes are down 19.1% and total listings up 23.1%. (Cotality data reported by Elite Agent)

Construction, development and supply

• 205,249 dwellings were approved in 2025-26, up 9.2% and the most since 2020-21 (120,044 houses, 80,006 other dwellings). (ABS Building Approvals media release, June 2026)
• 16,953 dwellings were approved in August 2026, 10.3% more than a year earlier, with private house approvals up 18.4%. (ABS Building Approvals, August 2026)
• 52,201 dwellings were started in the June quarter 2026 (up 14.4% in a year) and 47,168 completed (up 15.9%). (ABS Building Activity via Treasury ministers' release)
• About 980,000 new homes are forecast over the Housing Accord period against the 1.2 million target, with the target reached around September 2030. (National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, State of the Housing System 2026)
• 3,472 construction companies entered external administration in 2025-26, 24.5% of all 14,152 insolvencies and the first fall in five years. (ASIC data reported by Accountants Daily)

First home buyers, deposits and self employed borrowers

• 102,594 first home buyers used the 5% Deposit Scheme in the year to 1 October 2026 (Victoria 33,413, NSW 28,158, Queensland 20,125, WA 11,207), saving an estimated $23,700 in lenders mortgage insurance on a median priced home. (Treasury ministers' media release, 1 October 2026)
• -44% is the fall in Helia's gross written premium in the half to June 2026 as first home buyers moved from lenders mortgage insurance to the government guarantee. (Helia results reported by Insurance News)
• 1.1 million Australians are independent contractors, 7.6% of everyone employed, the core of the self employed and low doc lending market. (ABS Working Arrangements, August 2025)
• 1 July 2027 is when negative gearing on residential property is limited to new builds and the 50% CGT discount is replaced with indexation, under the law passed on 25 June 2026. (Parliament of Australia via The Adviser)

What people are actually asking

The enquiries that reach this site in 2026 are not about rates. They are about getting approved at all. Self employed investors with several properties want to refinance without full financials. Owners with an unencumbered home want to know how much they can release against it. Small development entities are buying run down tenanted stock and need a lender who will look at the plan, not the postcode. And the searches behind those enquiries are the same: self employed home loans, low doc loans, SMSF commercial property loans, knock down rebuild finance, childcare centre loans and debt consolidation into a mortgage.

That matches the numbers above. Investor lending is falling faster than owner-occupier lending, the DTI cap is biting hardest on investors, brokers now write four in five loans because policy differences between lenders decide approvals, and the self employed are a seventh of the workforce but a fraction of bank lending. The gap between what people ask for and what a bank will approve is where a specialist earns their keep.

How to use these figures

Every number on this page is taken from the named public source and dated to the period that source covers. You are free to quote or reproduce them with attribution to this page and a link. We refresh the page once a year and correct it sooner when a source is revised. If a figure looks wrong, use the form on this page and tell us which one.

Sources

1. ABS Lending Indicators, June quarter 2026
2. ABS Building Approvals, June 2026 release
3. ABS Building Approvals, August 2026
4. ABS Working Arrangements, August 2025
5. RBA Financial Stability Review, October 2026, households and businesses
6. RBA Financial Stability Review, October 2026, financial system
7. RBA Financial Stability Review, March 2026
8. RBA Financial Aggregates, August 2026
9. RBA cash rate target
10. RBA media release 2026-12
11. APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, June 2026
12. APRA Quarterly ADI Property Exposure Statistics, March 2026
13. APRA media release on the DTI limit
14. APRA submission to the Senate Select Committee on Productivity
15. MFAA broker market share, June quarter 2026
16. ATO SMSF quarterly statistical report, June 2026
17. Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026
18. Cotality Home Value Index, September 2026
19. Treasury ministers: dwelling commencements and completions
20. Treasury ministers: 5% Deposit Scheme
21. National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, State of the Housing System 2026
22. Commonwealth Bank newsroom, September 2026 cash rate decision
23. Accountants Daily, FY2025-26 insolvencies
24. The Adviser, SMSF lending data
25. The Adviser, negative gearing and CGT reforms

How much do Australians borrow for property each year?

On the June quarter 2026 run rate, about $390 billion a year in new housing loans before refinancing, with another $270 billion a year refinanced between lenders. Both figures come from the ABS Lending Indicators series.

What share of home loans go through mortgage brokers?

81.6% in the June quarter 2026, a record, according to the MFAA. Two years earlier it was 73.7%.

Are mortgage arrears rising in Australia?

Not materially. APRA reports 1.01% of bank home loans were non-performing at June 2026, and the RBA says 90 day arrears are around pre-pandemic levels, with fewer than 1% of borrowers in negative equity.

Can an SMSF still borrow to buy property?

Not for new residential property. Residential limited recourse borrowing arrangements entered into from 10 August 2026 are banned. Existing loans are grandfathered and borrowing for business real property is still allowed.

How often is this page updated?

Once a year, or sooner when a source revises its figures. Each statistic shows the period it covers and links to the document it came from.