The latest Reserve Bank mortgage data shows that in January investors took out their biggest share of new mortgages in nearly four years. Of the $5.1 billion taken out in new mortgages, 22.5 per cent went to investors in January. A year ago, their share stood at just 17.8 per cent. Annual growth in new mortgages taken out by them was up 90 per cent to $1.153 billion, compared to the $607 million borrowed in January last year. In comparison, first-home buyers’ share of new mortgages at 20.2 per cent, a drop from 24.1 per cent in January last year. Borrowers took out a total of $5.1 billion in mortgages during January, up by 50.3 per cent when compared to the same month last year. The amount borrowed then was $3.413 billion. Mortgage arrears reached an eight-year high last month, with 23,700 home loans past due, a 6 per cent year-on-year increase, Centrix data shows. The same trend is also obvious from RBNZ figures, which show non-performing housing loans increased by $165 million, or 7.6 per cent, the biggest monthly rise since June 2020. The central bank’s loans by asset quality figures reveal total non-performing loans were at $2.328 billion at the end of January and have increased by $650 billion, or 38.8 per cent year-on-year.