Big jump in business mortgage demand

The lust for mortgages is not just confined to people looking to buy a home.

New figures show there was a 25.7 per cent jump in commercial mortgage applications in the March quarter compared to a year earlier.

Credit data provider Equifax - formerly known as Veda - says such growth was largely the result of record low interest rates continuing.

Other forms of business credit demand were more moderate, although Equifax's Neil Shilbury said this indicated a steady outlook for business.

Business loan applications rose 3.4 per cent in the March quarter compared to the same period in 2016 and asset finance applications rose 1.8 per cent.

But trade credit applications declined 0.8 per cent.

Mr Shilbury said while a number of factors supported economic growth, the negative impact of falling mining investment still lingered.

He said the Reserve Bank believed business investment was now 90 per cent of the way back to normal levels after the peak in mining investment in 2012.

"While businesses may take comfort in the knowledge that much of the pain has passed, there are still likely to be some challenges for the Australian economy in the short term," he said.