Australian investor home loans reach record peak

Property investors now represent almost half of Australia's new home loans, taking out a record proportion of Australia's new housing finance in July, new figures released on Tuesday reveal.

Lending to property investors, rather than owner-occupiers, drove an overall 2.7 percent increase in new loans for housing in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported.

Investor loans accounted for 49.7 percent of total new loans in July, the highest proportion on record.

The increase represented 28.6 billion Australian dollars (26.5 billion U.S. dollars) in new loans for the month.