- April saw new loan commitments rose by 3.7%
- New owner-occupied loans total $23 billion - an all time high
- Investors rose by 2.1% to the highest level since mid-2017
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released data showing new loan commitments for housing rose to a record high of $31 billion – a 3.7% increase.
According to the ABS Head of Finance and Wealth, Katherine Keenan, commitments for owner-occupied housing reached an all-time high of $23 billion in April, up by 4.3%. For investors, this figure rose by 2.1% to $8.1 billion, representing the highest level since mid-2017.
“The rise in owner-occupier lending was driven by increased loan commitments for existing dwellings, which rose 9.2 per cent. Loan commitments to owner-occupiers for the construction of new dwellings fell by 11.4 per cent, following a fall of 14.8 per cent in March,” she said.
“These were the first monthly declines since the HomeBuilder grant was introduced in June 2020. However, the value of construction commitments remained at a high level.”
Katherine Keenan, ABS Head of Finance and Wealth
Notably, the number of owner-occupier first home buyer loan commitments fell by 1.9% to 15,171 in April – the third consecutive month of decline. This is not surprising given HomeBuilder and state-based first home buyer initiatives were wound up at the start of the year.
State-by-state, New South Wales recorded an 8.6% rise with an 8.4% rise in Victoria, while commitments fell by 7.9% in Western Australia after falling by 5.1% in March. Previously, the WA Government offered a Building Bonus Grant worth $20,000.
In terms of personal finance loan commitments, the value of commitments for fixed-term personal finance rose by 4.8% in April based on seasonally adjusted data. According to the ABS, this was primarily driven by lending for personal investment, up by 25.2%, and lending for road vehicles which rose by 3.6%.
