Investor activity in the housing market is showing few signs of slowing down, sparking warnings from economists that the RBA's latest interest rate cut could add fuel to the fire.
The value of investor loans fell just 0.1 per cent in January, following December's massive 6.4 per cent jump, when investors rushed to sign on the dotted line amid talk from regulators about a crackdown on investor lending.
But the proportion of investor loans rose to a record high of 41.4 per cent in January - and that was before the Reserve Bank cut interest rates to a new record low in February.
"This is just the calm before the storm," CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said.
"The flow of credit to the housing sector would only have strengthened subsequent to that rate cut."
The RBA has repeatedly expressed concern about strong levels of investor activity in the housing market, particularly in Sydney.
Wednesday's figures - showing annual growth in investor loan values had swelled to 22.1 per cent even after regulators took measures in December to curb investor lending - would do nothing to allay the central bank's fears, St George senior economist Janu Chan said.
"Investor demand is showing little sign of weakening, and the record high proportion of loans to investors will keep the RBA alert on imbalances within the housing market," Ms Chan said.
Meanwhile, the number of loans to owner occupiers slid 3.5 per cent, with the value of those loans falling one per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.
And the proportion of first home buyer loans edged down to a decade-low of 14.2 per cent, economists said.
JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman said while loans to owner occupiers had been pulling back for the past year, investor lending was not slowing as much as the RBA would like.
The ongoing strength of investor lending would tie the RBA's hands when it came to further rate cuts, he said.
"It needs to come down further if the RBA are going to be comfortable," Mr Jarman said.
"It makes life very difficult for the RBA because they have this very unbalanced scenario where investor lending is very strong but owner occupier lending is pulling back, and Sydney is very strong whereas the rest of the nation is falling by the wayside.
"It's very hard to manage with one tool, which is the cash rate."
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