Restrictions on property investment lending imposed on Australia's lenders by APRA are increasingly affecting the plans of investors, according to new research from Mortgage Choice. The ASX-listed financial services firm's annual investor survey found almost half (42.6 per cent) of the more than 1000 first time property investors said the new lending restrictions were affecting their plans - up from 33 per cent the year prior. Looking further ahead, a majority of those Australians surveyed (51.5 per cent) said they believed the investment lending changes would trigger a reduction in the level of overall activity in the coming 12 to 24 months. Expected ratings have been assigned by Fitch Ratings to Macquarie Leasing's SMART ABS Series 2017-2 of automotive-loan backed floating-rate notes. The ratings are as follows: A$500.00 million Class A notes rated AAAsf; $14.70 million Class B notes rated AAsf; and $73.55 million unrated Seller notes. The total collateral pool consisted of 17,100 motor vehicle leases and loan receivables originated by Macquarie, totalling $582 million at the cut-off date, according to a presale note to investors from Fitch. Novated contracts contributed to the low arrears on prior SMART transactions and make up 27.1 per cent of the current transaction pool. Correction: Earlier this week, it was incorrectly reported that Homeloans had decreased commissions on its Homeloans Optima and Ultra Plus products. The upfront and trail commissions on these products remain unchanged.