First-home buyers are finding it easier to get a home loan as a slowing housing market prompts retail banks to drum up new business.
Latest figures show lending to those with a low deposit is at its highest level since the Reserve Bank introduced restrictions in October last year.
The central bank's loan-to-value ratio (LVR) restrictions limited low deposit lending to no more than 10 percent of new mortgages. It had a dramatic effect, with retail banks sharply curtailing low deposit lending at one stage to less than 4 percent of new lending.
Official figures show this recovered to 6.7 percent in June this year, with or $297 million of new lending going to those with a less than 20 percent deposit, the best showing in eight months.