A record number of mortgages were taken by property investors amidst growing confidence in the property market, a new report has revealed. The data released by mortgage brokerage AFG revealed that one-third of new mortgages were sold to property investors in March - the highest level since AFG started tracking the data four years ago. Investors in NSW appear to be the most optimistic, snapping up 34.4% of new mortgages sold. This strong showing is in line with the solid investor uptake in Queensland where they grabbed 31.2% of new mortgages written by AFG, and the continuing strength of the Western Australia market where 46% of all new mortgages were taken up by investors. Investments in Victoria fell slightly out of favour with only 25.5% of new mortgages sold to investors - a figure well below the national average but higher than last year's data. "While one should be cautions about reading too much into a single month's data, it would appear that we're at last seeing the long-awaited return of confidence to the NSW property sector, and even Victoria is coming out of the gloom," said Mark Hewitt, general manager of sales and operations at AFG. "If this trend continues over the next few months, we could have a golden scenario where property markets from coast to coast are powering forward." AFG also found that the average new mortgage taken in Australia is now at $308,000, slightly higher than the previous high of $307,000 recorded in November last year.

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