The largest mortgage broking group in Australia revealed a significant rise in first home buyers who secured their services for the past two months.

According to Australian Financial Group (AFG) executive director Kevin Matthews, “We now have two months of data which show that first home buyers are coming back.” The AFG Mortgage Index released on September 7, 2010 showed that for the second consecutive month, sales to first-home buyers climbed from 9.5 percent in June to 11.7 percent in August.

Matthews pointed at government grants for “bringing forward first home buyer demand.” He also cited the stabilizing of property prices in many areas and the willingness of some lenders to lend up to 95 percent of a property’s value as factors for the rise in first home buyer sales.

Overall, the AFG Mortgage Index showed an 10.9 percent increase in sales in August.

New South Wales topped the list for first home buyers. Sales in the area is up at 15.5 percent of all new mortgages compared to 11.7 percent in June. Mortgages for first home buyers composed 12.9 percent of all mortgages in Western Australia, 11.7 percent in Victoria, 9 percent in Queensland, and 6.7 percent in South Australia.