Real estate sales in Australia jumped by 11 per cent during August, official figures reveal.
The property market in the country received a boost as homebuyer confidence strengthened and first-time buyers returned to the market.
With the Reserve Bank keeping official interest rates on hold, property sales across the nation were 10.9 per cent higher than in July, the figures from the Australian Finance Group (AFG) show.
According to the figures, greater competition between lenders on price and policy combined with increasing loan-to-value ratios are also proving beneficial to property investors.
"With property prices in many areas having stabilised, and some lenders prepared to lend up to 95 per cent of the property's value, property is becoming more accessible to first home buyers and more attractive to investors," he explained.
Indeed, investor activity varied across the states, with New South Wales and Victoria topping the market.
In New South Wales almost 37 per cent of all mortgages sold were to investors, while in Victoria they accounted for 36.4 per cent of the total sales volume.
However, investor confidence in Queensland and Western Australia remained low, largely due to the uncertainty over a possible mining super tax.