APRIL KEY FIGURES

	Trend estimates		Seasonally adjusted estimates
	Apr 2016	Mar 2016 to Apr 2016	Apr 2016	Mar 2016 to Apr 2016
Value of dwelling commitments(a)(b)
	$m	% change	$m	% change
Total dwellings	32 294	-0.3	31 993	-1.8
Owner occupied housing	20 674	-0.5	20 702	0.1
Investment housing - fixed loans(c)	11 620	0.2	11 291	-5.0
Number of dwelling commitments(a)(b)
	no.	% change	no.	% change
Owner occupied housing	57 160	0.0	57 576	1.7
Construction of dwellings	5 753	-0.4	5 853	4.4
Purchase of new dwellings	2 585	-3.1	2 594	3.3
Purchase of established dwellings	48 822	0.3	49 129	1.3
(a) Includes refinancing (see Glossary).
(b) Excludes alterations and additions.
(c) Excludes revolving credit.

Value of dwelling commitments, Total dwellings

No. of dwelling commitments, Owner occupied housing

APRIL KEY POINTS


VALUE OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

April 2016 compared with March 2016:

• The trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions fell 0.3% . Owner occupied housing commitments fell 0.5% while investment housing commitments rose 0.2%.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions fell 1.8%.

NUMBER OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

April 2016 compared with March 2016:

• In trend terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance was unchanged in April 2016.
• In trend terms, the number of commitments for the purchase of new dwellings fell 3.1%, the number of commitments for the construction of dwellings fell 0.4%, while the number of commitments for the purchase of established dwellings rose 0.3% .
• In original terms, the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments rose to 14.4% in April 2016 from 14.2% in March 2016.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
May 2016	11 July 2016
June 2016	10 August 2016
July 2016	9 September 2016
August 2016	11 October 2016
September 2016	10 November 2016
October 2016	9 December 2016

REVISIONS

In this issue, revisions have been made to the original series as a result of improved reporting of survey and administrative data, and updated first home buyer modelled estimates. These revisions have affected the following series:

• First home buyers owner occupied housing for period January 2015 to March 2016.
• Owner occupied housing for period January 2015 to March 2016.
• Investment housing for period January 2015 to March 2016.
• Housing loan outstandings to households; owner-occupied and investment housing: for period January 2015 to March 2016.

FIRST HOME BUYERS

Monthly First Home Buyer statistics will be subject to future revision, as the modelled component is adjusted to reflect improved reporting by lenders. Information relating to changes to the method of estimating loans to first home buyers, introduced from the December 2014 issue, can be found under the First Home Buyers web page and on page 5 of the PDF. First home buyers are defined as persons entering the home ownership market as owner-occupiers for the first time. First time investors are excluded.


CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

Market reactions to regulatory measures implemented by APRA in 2015 has resulted in increased volatility in some of the seasonally adjusted estimates included in this publication, particularly the value of finance commitments for owner occupied housing and investor housing. Care should be taken in interpreting the movements for this reference period, as the seasonally adjusted estimates may be revised in future periods.

In addition, some banks have been reclassifying housing loans that originated as investment loans to owner occupied. This reclassification affects Table 12 Housing Loan Outstandings to Households only.


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