JULY KEY FIGURES

	Trend estimates		Seasonally adjusted estimates
	Jul 2016	Jun 2016 to Jul 2016	Jul 2016	Jun 2016 to Jul 2016
Value of dwelling commitments(a)(b)
	$m	% change	$m	% change
Total dwellings	31 958	0.3	31 788	-1.8
Owner occupied housing	20 255	-0.1	19 946	-3.1
Investment housing - fixed loans(c)	11 702	1.1	11 842	0.5
Number of dwelling commitments(a)(b)
	no.	% change	no.	% change
Owner occupied housing	56 357	-0.1	55 010	-4.2
Construction of dwellings	5 619	-0.3	5 493	-5.0
Purchase of new dwellings	2 663	0.4	2 629	-3.4
Purchase of established dwellings	48 075	-0.1	46 888	-4.1
(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

JULY KEY POINTS


VALUE OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

July 2016 compared with June 2016:

• The trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 0.3%. Investment housing commitments rose 1.1%, while owner occupied housing commitments fell 0.1%.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions fell 1.8%.

NUMBER OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

July 2016 compared with June 2016:

• In trend terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance fell 0.1% in July 2016.
• In trend terms, the number of commitments for the construction of dwellings fell 0.3%, while the number of commitments for the purchase of new dwellings rose 0.4%, and the number of commitments for the purchase of established dwellings fell 0.1%.
• In original terms, the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments fell to 14.1% in July 2016 from 14.3% in June 2016.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
August 2016	11 October 2016
September 2016	10 November 2016
October 2016	9 December 2016
November 2016	17 January 2017
December 2016	10 February 2017
January 2017	10 March 2017

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:

• Owner occupied housing for period March 2016 to June 2016.
• Investment housing for period March 2016 to June 2016.
• Housing loan outstandings to households; owner-occupied and investment housing; for period July 2015 to June 2016.

CHANGES IN THE NEXT ISSUE

In the next issue of this publication the monthly first home buyer statistics will be revised. The ABS has been reviewing the effect of improved reporting on the modelled component of the first home buyer statistics over recent months. The quality of data provided by lenders is now of sufficient quality for the ABS to re-evaluate the adjustment for under-reporting of loans where the buyer did not receive a first home owner grant. From the August 2016 issue (to be released on 11 October 2016) first home buyer statistics shall be revised to reflect the improved reporting by lenders. An Information Paper will be released on the ABS website on 4 October 2016 explaining the extent of the revisions and options for improvements to first home buyer statistics.

Information relating to current 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.


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