Kiwis still want that quarter acre

According to KPMG's annual Financial Institutions Performance Survey, lending by the registered bank sector increased over $9.7 billion during the 2003 year, an increase of nearly 14%.

KPMG's Banking and Finance Group Chairman, Andrew Dinsdale, describes the increase as "spectacular".

For the year residential property mortgages accounted for 51% of total lending, up from 49% in 2002.

Dinsdale said that was consistent with the continuing boom in the real estate market.

"In spite of the fact that rising prices are making first home purchases more difficult, it would appear from the lending statistics that the great Kiwi tradition of owning your own house continues unchecked," he said in a statement.

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