New mortgage lending rose 36.2% in February

New mortgage lending rose 36.2% in February
Staff reporters
Further evidence of the heat in the housing market is that mortgage lending in February was up 36.2% at $7.6 billion.Investors increased their share of borrowing, accounting for 24.4% of total lending, up from 20.3% in February last year, although down from 26% in January.First-home buyers accounted for 15.6% of new lending, down from 16.2% in January and down from 16.8% in February last year.Borrowing against houses for business purposes remained marginal, falling to $52 million in February from $58m in February last year.Of the new lending, o...

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