The statistics have just been released following the Reserve Bank data breach.
Total mortgage lending hit $6.3 billion, up from $4.7 billion the same month last year.
It's the highest level of mortgage lending on record in the first month of the year, based on data going back to 2014.
First home buyer lending rose from $889 million in January 2020 to $1.029 billion.
Investor lending jumped from $951 million to $1.65 billion, but high LVR lending dropped month-on-month amid a bank clampdown.
High LVR lending to investors, above 70% LVR, hit $469 million, down from $822 million the previous month.
While LVR restrictions were only imposed from March, many banks, including ASB, introduced their own restrictions and DTI rules in early summer.
Yet high LVR lending to first home buyers also fell.
FHBs borrowed $366 million, down from $640 million in December, and flat on the $358 million lent at high LVR terms to first timers in December 2020.
Due to the RBNZ data hack, February figures will be released next week.
