Firstmac banks on online mortgages

Last week the non-bank announced that it had upsized its second RMBS transaction in three months as demand surged beyond initial launch size to close at $700 million.

Firstmac chief financial officer James Austin said Australian residential housing credit growth has been falling since 2003 and lenders had experienced poor loan growth, resulting in lower supply of RMBS.

“Firstmac has bucked this trend by innovating into the fast-growing online mortgage sector,” Mr Austin said.

“The Firstmac bonds have been well received by a market starved of supply,” he said.

“Firstmac expects the online sector to continue to grow into the future and the group is well placed to benefit from this growth while more traditional bricks and mortar lending declines.”

Mr Austin said last week’s result showed investor interest remained high for its award-winning online lender, loans.com.au.

“Loans.com.au is performing strongly with application numbers and loan volumes continuing to experience positive growth,” he said.

“It maintains its place at the forefront of the online mortgage sector and has picked up several high-profile industry awards for its performance.

“The home loan sector recognises loans.com.au as a legitimate contender for market share and the investor community has given the lending model its endorsement.”

Loans.com.au was established in 2011 and typically writes high quality loans to borrowers with an average deposit of a third of the value of their home.

Firstmac has issued over $12 billion in RMBS since 2003.