The number of home loans taken out by investors has slumped by almost 9 per cent, new data has revealed.

But the figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal the drop is concentrated among investors looking to buy an existing home, with loans for the construction of new properties actually increasing.

The bureau reported that all loans fell by 5.4 per cent in the June quarter to be just 0.1 per cent up over the past 12 months.

Among investors, the fall was 8.6 per cent. Since the start of the year, investor home loans have fallen by 12.9 per cent.

The largest drop has been among loans taken out by investors for an existing property. These fell by 14.8 per cent in the quarter during which the federal government announced its changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax.

The negative gearing change excludes investors who borrow to build a new property. That seems to be having an impact.

Loans to investors for a new home grew by 4.4 per cent and hit an all-time high for data that only goes back to 2019.

The bureau’s head of finance statistics, Mish Tan, noted that loans taken out by all borrower types had fallen over the past three months.

“Lending conditions continued to change in the June quarter, with the Reserve Bank increasing the cash rate for the third time in 2026. Changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax were also announced in the federal budget in May, to commence in July 2027,” she said.

Tan noted there was a substantial fall in loans taken out by investors.

“The fall in investor loans in the June quarter was the largest fall since September quarter 2022,” she said.

“Annually, growth in investor loans slowed from 19.4 per cent in the March quarter to 2.8 per cent this quarter.”

The largest drop in investor loans was in NSW, down by 15.5 per cent, while they tumbled by 14.2 per cent in Victoria and by 10.1 per cent in Queensland.

But it is not a national story. Investor loans increased by 12.8 per cent in the Northern Territory, by 8.7 per cent in the ACT and by 5.3 per cent in Tasmania.

Across first home buyers, loans fell by 2.9 per cent while there was a 2.2 per cent drop among loans taken out by owner-occupiers.

The soft market meant average mortgage sizes eased, with the national average mortgage falling to $731,000 from $735,000. It is still almost 7.8 per cent up over the past year.

NSW’s average mortgage dropped to $842,000 from $861,000 but remains well above the $815,000 recorded in June last year. The average mortgages in Victoria (down to $664,000) and the ACT ($666,000) also dropped but are still well above the same period in 2025.

Mortgages continue to grow in Queensland ($751,000) and Western Australia ($720,000) although their rate of growth has started to slow.