April 12, 2018
Home loan demand has fallen for the third consecutive month, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The latest Housing Finance data found that 54,427 home loans were approved throughout February, down 0.2% from the previous month.
“February marked the third consecutive month that we saw a drop in the number of home loan approvals,” Mortgage Choice spokesperson Jacqueline Dearle said.
“This is somewhat surprising because February is traditionally the time when people start to put their property plans for the year into action.
“However, when we consider that the property market has been cooling in recent months, a decline in demand is reasonable.
“According to the latest CoreLogic figures, median dwelling values for the combined capital cities fell 0.2% over the month of March.
“In particular, median values in Sydney and Melbourne dropped 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.”
While the number of home loans approved dropped, the value of all dwelling commitments rose 1% to $33.5 billion over the month of February.
“The value of owner-occupied housing rose 1.3% to $21.5 billion, while the value of investment loans written rose 0.5% to $12 billion,” Ms Dearle said.
Looking ahead, Ms Dearle said she expected home loan demand to remain relatively stable.
“Home loan interest rates remain at historically low levels which is keeping the cost of borrowing at affordable levels,” she said.
“In addition, lenders are actively vying for business from both owner-occupiers and investors by offering competitive rates on their home loans.
“These factors should help keep home loan demand at relatively stable levels.
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