Tight LVR Headroom on a Cammeray Second Mortgage

Cammeray scenarios come to us closer to the cap than almost anywhere else on the lower north shore, and the reason is arithmetic rather than appetite, because a lot of the investment stock here is two-bedroom apartments carrying a sizeable bank loan, so by the time you add a second mortgage behind that loan the combined position has already gone through 75% of value. Which security you're offering ends up mattering far more than what you want the money for.

Key facts for Cammeray (2062), 12 months to September 2026

• Median three-bedroom house: $3.25 million. Four-bedroom: $3.905 million.
• Median three-bedroom apartment: $2.3275 million. Two-bedroom: $1.305 million. One-bedroom: $840,000.
• Auction clearance: 74% on three-bedroom houses, 64% on four-bedroom, 93% on two-bedroom units, which sell in about 21 days across 47 sales.
• Population 7,017, with only 56% owner-occupiers, the lowest owner share of its neighbours.

The version that gets declined

Here's the one people arrive with, because it's worth showing first. A company owns a two-bedroom Cammeray investment apartment worth about $1.305 million with $780,000 owing to a bank, and it wants a second mortgage behind that for working capital. At 75% of value the total debt can't exceed $978,750, the bank's $780,000 doesn't move, so the room behind it is $198,750, and our smallest second mortgage is $500,000. Writing one would put the combined position at 98.1%.

There's no version of that we can price, and no amount of margin turns a 98% position into a 73% one, so the honest answers are a different security, a smaller bank balance, or selling the apartment. You'll hear that early rather than after a valuation.

A worked Cammeray example

Now the one that works, where the same company also owns a three-bedroom Cammeray investment house worth about $3.25 million with $1.6 million owing to a bank and offers that instead, which shows how the combined cap works out in practice once there's enough security behind it.

At 73.8% that fits, and it deserves to be called tight, because $37,500 of headroom is about one percent of the security and it will not absorb much of anything. If the valuer comes back at $3,087,500, which is only 5% under the median, the cap drops to $2,315,625 and the position is $84,375 over at 77.7%, so the facility has to come back by that much or the deal stops working.

That's the thing to plan for on a structure like this. Ask the lender what value it's adopting before you commit the funds anywhere, because the gap between an indicative number and a tested valuation is where these deals fall over, and at this LVR there's also nothing spare for capitalised interest, so the term wants to be short and deliberate with the exit already lined up rather than left open.

How quickly does Cammeray property sell?

Faster than most of its neighbours, which is the one piece of good news in a tight structure, because two-bedroom units clear at 93% and sell in about 21 days across 47 sales, and three-bedroom houses clear at 74%. If the exit on your facility is a sale of the security rather than a refinance, Cammeray gives you a better shot at hitting it inside the term than Castlecrag or Northbridge would.

The wider market has still turned, though, because after three rate rises in early 2026 Sydney house values fell 3.3% in the June 2026 quarter, clearance across the city hit 48% and a record 29.3% of auctions were withdrawn, so Cammeray is outperforming that rather than sitting outside it.

What actually settles here

Nothing private settled against a Cammeray property in the 90 days to August 2026. Five settled across northern Sydney in that window, one each in Neutral Bay and Willoughby East, two in Ryde and one in Frenchs Forest, from $250,000 to $3.28 million, being two business investments, a refinance, a purchase and a construction line.

Nationally 196 settled in the same 90 days, 115 first mortgages and 81 seconds, at a median loan of $765,500 with 82% secured by residential property, and the purposes ran refinance 55, purchase 42, working capital 39, business investment 26, construction 19, debt consolidation 10, bridging 3 and subdivision 2. Set the 98% scenario above against a market that funds this kind of loan every week and the problem is clearly the security rather than any shortage of appetite.

What Vía Private lends on

What we will not do

We don't do consumer credit regulated by the National Credit Act, so if the property is a home you live in and the money is for something personal then we're not the right lender. We don't fund construction or development, and we don't lend against vacant land or pre-DA sites. We won't lend where there's no credible exit, we won't lend against a valuation we haven't tested, and at 98% that's a decline rather than a conversation about margin.

Questions people ask

How much can I borrow on a second mortgage against a Cammeray investment property? Enough that the existing bank loan and the second mortgage together stay inside 75% of the property's value. Vía Private's smallest second mortgage is $500,000, so where the bank balance leaves less than that in headroom, a second mortgage cannot be written at all.

Why does a two-bedroom apartment often fail the test? On a $1.305 million median, 75% of value is $978,750. A bank loan of $780,000 leaves $198,750 of room, which is below the $500,000 minimum, so the security is too small for the facility rather than the borrower being unsuitable.

What happens if the valuation comes in under the median? The facility gets resized, so on the worked example above a valuation 5% under the median drops the cap by $84,375 and the second mortgage has to come down by the same amount.

Who can borrow? Companies, trusts with a corporate trustee, SMSFs, and individuals where the loan is not regulated by the National Credit Act. The purpose must be business or investment, not personal or owner-occupied.

How quickly do Cammeray properties sell? Two-bedroom units sell in about 21 days with clearance at 93%, and three-bedroom houses clear at 74%, on Domain data for the 12 months to September 2026. Sydney values fell 3.3% in the June 2026 quarter, so the trend is softening.

Getting a Cammeray scenario looked at

Most of the scenarios we see come through accredited mortgage brokers, so if you're already working with one, send them this page and they can put it to us. If you'd rather come to us first, email begin@viaprivate.com.au with the property, the amount you need, what it's for and how you plan to repay it.

Nearby: Cremorne · Mosman · Northbridge · Willoughby · Castlecrag

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Figures are indicative and for illustration only. Median values are Domain suburb data for the 12 months to September 2026. Market commentary is from the Domain House Price Report, June quarter 2026. Settlement counts are from a private lending panel covering 196 mortgages funded nationally in the 90 days to August 2026. Transfer duty is calculated at Revenue NSW 2026-27 rates. Vía Private lends to companies, trusts and SMSFs for business and investment purposes only and does not provide consumer credit regulated by the National Credit Act. This page is general information and does not take your objectives or circumstances into account. Last reviewed 13 September 2026.