AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Highlights:
- Australian Bureau of Statistics has disclosed a 3.4% fall in the value of housing loan commitments in August 2022.
- As per the ABS report, owner-occupied loans are 36% higher, and investment loans are 70% higher.
- Western Australian territory witnessed a 13.9% rise in housing loan demand in August 2022.
On 4 October 2022, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released a new borrower-accepted finance commitments report for housing, business, and personal loans. According to the report, after falling by 8.5% in July, the value of new housing loan agreements declined by 3.4% to AU$27.4 billion in August 2022 (seasonally adjusted).
As per the ABS report, the lending was high in August 2022 relative to levels before the global pandemic, even while it declined from its high in June 2022. The owner-occupied loans were 36% higher in August than in February 2020, while investment loans were 70% higher.
Additionally, in August 2022, there were 9,258 new loan commitments to owner-occupier first-time buyers, equivalent to a 10.4% increase from the previous month. Even though the level remained much behind the January 2021 high of 16,330, this was the biggest increase since August 2020. Nearly all Australian states and territories had an increase in demand, but particularly Victoria (up 11.9%), Queensland (up 14.3%), and Western Australia (up 13.9%) witnessed a significant rise.
Seasonally adjusted housing finance loan commitments by state and property type are included in this ABS data.
The ABS report further stated that owner-occupied home loan commitments for borrower refinancing increased in value by 2.8% in August 2022, reaching a new high of AU$12.8 billion. Despite a rise in the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) cash rate in August, borrowers continued to look for loans with lower interest rates.
Moreover, the average loan size for owner-occupied homes, which includes building and purchasing of new homes and existing ones, decreased from AU$609,000 to AU$589,000 nationally in August. Still, it remained 23% higher than that of February 2020. Every state dropped average loan sizes; however, both these territories saw a small increase.
