Loans to investors and first-home buyers picked up in February according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figures show a 1.5% increase in mortgage commitments across the board during the month to the value of $26.4 billion.

Investor loans rose by 1.2% in February and first-home buyer loans increased by 4.8% in the month. Both are 21% higher than at the same time last year. There were 9,377 loans to first-home buyers during February.

ABS head of finance statistics, Mish Tan, says investor loans made up more than half of the growth in total new loan commitments in the past year.

The value of new loans written in February was $26.4bn, with $9.53 billion of that investments.

NAB senior economist Taylor Nugent says the increase in loans to first-home buyers shows that the market remains resilient and that higher mortgage rates are not a hurdle when compared to the alternative of renting.