Record figures for mortgages

Press, 23 August 1984, Page 29

Record figures for mortgages

PA Wellington New Zealanders borrowed a record amount on mortgage in the last financial year, according to figures given yesterday by the Statistics Department. The Sshow that $4015 was advanced on _ iges registered on land in the year to March 31, an increase of 12.6 per cent on the previous year. In spite of an apparent clamp on the availability of mortgage funds, 13,123 more mortgages were registered than in the 1982-83 financial year. However, the total number of mortgages registered was more than 21,200 down on the 1981-82 year. The figures show that more people are taking out bigger mortgages than in the past, just over 37 per cent of registered mortgages falling in the $20,000

to $49,999 bracket, and a further 48 per cent being for $50,000 or more. The number of mortgages for less than $20,000 accounted for only 14.5 per cent of the total compared with about 17.6 per cent last year and 24.5 per cent in 1981-82. Interest rates averaged 14.2 per cent, compared with 15.6 per cent the previous year and 14.3 per cent in 1981-82.