A rebounding property market and low mortgage arrears have kept funding markets wide open for Australian lenders, as investors look for more certain and stable returns amid ongoing volatility in equity markets.

Despite one of the most aggressive interest rate tightening cycles on record, Queensland-based non-bank lender Firstmac told investors in its residential mortgage-backed securities – essentially a bundle of mortgages paying the interest earned to holders – that 30-day arrears were a low 0.4 per cent.