5609.0 - Housing Finance, Australia, Aug 2004  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 11/10/2004   
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AUGUST KEY FIGURES

Trend estimates
Seasonally adjusted estimates
Aug 2004
Jul 2004 to Aug 2004
Aug 2004
Jul 2004 to Aug 2004

Value of dwelling commitments(a)
$m
% change
$m
% change
Total dwellings
15,411
-0.2
15,458
-0.7
Owner occupied housing
10,143
0.6
10,187
0.1
Investment housing - fixed loans(b)
5,268
-1.8
5,271
-2.3
Number of dwelling commitments(a)
no.
% change
no.
% change
Owner occupied housing
49,103
0.1
49,569
0.4
Construction of dwellings
4,661
-1.5
4,727
2.4
Purchase of new dwellings
1,884
0.7
1,945
3.2
Purchase of established dwellings
42,558
0.2
42,897
0.1

(a) Includes refinancing.
(b) Excludes revolving credit.

Housing finance, Value of dwellings
Graph: Housing Finance, Value of Dwellings

Housing finance, Number of dwellings
Graph: Housing Finance, Number of Dwellings



AUGUST KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES

  • Total value of dwelling finance commitments decreased slightly by 0.2% in August 2004, after decreases in the nine of the past ten months. Owner occupied housing rose by 0.6%, the fifth consecutive month of small increases. Investment housing decreased in August 2004 (down 1.8%) for the tenth consecutive month.
  • The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupation increased by 0.1% in August 2004, while the number excluding refinancing remained virtually unchanged.


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES
  • Total value of housing finance commitments fell by 0.7% in August 2004, following a rise of 3.5% in July. This fall was due to the decrease in investment housing commitments (down 2.3%) more than offsetting the slight increase in owner occupied housing commitments (up 0.1%).
  • The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupied housing increased by 0.4% in August 2004, the second consecutive monthly increase. The number excluding refinancing increased by 1.4%.


ORIGINAL ESTIMATES
  • The percentage of first home buyer commitments increased for the fifth consecutive month after the record low in March 2004, increasing to 16.0% in August 2004.


NOTES

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

There are no significant changes in this issue.



INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Darren Page on Canberra (02) 6252 6731.



SUMMARY COMMENTARY


HOUSING FINANCE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


DWELLINGS FINANCED

Value of Dwellings Financed

The total value of dwelling commitments excluding alterations and additions (seasonally adjusted) decreased by 0.7% in August 2004, following a rise of 3.5% in July. The total housing finance trend fell by 0.2% in August 2004, after decreases in the nine of the past ten months.


The total value of owner occupied commitments (seasonally adjusted) increased by 0.1% in August 2004, following a 3.4% increase in July. Increases in the purchase of new dwellings (up 2.7%), construction of dwellings (up 1.3%) and were offset partially by a decrease in refinancing of established dwellings (down 0.4%). Finance commitments for the purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing remained virtually unchanged. The trend series in the value of owner occupied commitments rose by 0.6% in August.


The seasonally adjusted series for value of investment housing commitments (including finance for construction and finance for rent or resale) decreased by 2.3% in August 2004, following an increase of 3.8% in July. The decrease this month was primarily due to a fall in finance for the purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by individuals (down 3.3%). Partially offsetting this fall was an increase in purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by others (up 3.2%). The trend series in total value of investment commitments fell by 1.8%.

INVESTMENT HOUSING - TOTAL
Graph: Investment Housing - Total



Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed

The number of owner occupied dwelling commitments (seasonally adjusted) increased by 0.4% in August 2004, the second consecutive monthly increase. The increase was due to increases in the purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing (up 304, 1.1%), construction of dwellings (up 112, 2.4%) and purchase of new dwellings (up 61, 3.2%). Partially offsetting these increases was a fall in refinancing of established dwellings (down 264, -1.8%).


The total owner occupied housing finance trend rose by 0.1% in August 2004, after remaining flat in July and decreasing in the previous nine months.


Increases were recorded in seasonally adjusted terms in Western Australia (up 996, 15.3%), South Australia (up 181, 4.5%), Queensland (up 149, 1.5%) and Northern Territory (up 24, 4.8%). These increases were partially offset by falls in New South Wales (down 521, -3.4%), Victoria (down 89, -0.8%), Tasmania (down 29, -2.9%) and Australian Capital Territory (down 26, -4.6%). The trend decreased in all states and territories except Western Australia, Victoria and North Territory.


In original terms, first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing commitments rose to 16.0% in August 2004, the fifth consecutive monthly increase since the record low of 12.8% in March 2004.

Graph: Number of owner-occupied dwelllings financed


Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed Excluding Refinancing

The number of owner occupied dwellings financed excluding refinancing (seasonally adjusted) increased by 1.4% in August 2004, after a 2.1% increase in July. The trend was virtually unchanged in August 2004, remaining flat since April 2004 after eight consecutive monthly declines.

Graph: Number of owner occupied dwellings financed excluding refinancing



PURPOSE OF FINANCE (OWNER OCCUPATION)

Construction of dwellings

The seasonally adjusted number of construction commitments for owner occupation rose by 2.4% in August 2004, after three consecutive months of decreasing commitments. The trend series fell 1.5% in August 2004, the eleventh consecutive month of decreasing trend commitments.

Graph: Number of constructions of dwellings


Purchase of new dwellings

The number of finance commitments for the purchase of new dwellings for owner occupation (seasonally adjusted) rose by 3.2% in August 2004, the third consecutive month of increasing commitments. The trend series rose 0.7% in August 2004.

Graph: Number of purchases of new dwellings


Purchase of established dwellings

The seasonally adjusted established dwelling for owner occupation series increased by 0.1% in August 2004, after a 2.3% increase in July. The trend rose by 0.2% in August 2004, the second monthly increase following nine consecutive months of decreasing commitments.

Graph: Number of purchases of established dwellings


Refinancing

The number of refinancing commitments for owner occupied housing (seasonally adjusted) fell by 1.8% in August 2004, after a 1.5% increase in July. The trend series increased by 0.3% in August, the first increase following nine consecutive monthly decreases.

Graph: Number of refinancing commitments for owner-occupied housing



NUMBER OF OWNER OCCUPIED DWELLINGS FINANCED BY TYPE OF LENDER

Banks

The number of owner occupied dwellings financed by banks (seasonally adjusted) remained virtually unchanged in August 2004, after an increase of 2.5% in July. The trend series increased by 0.1% in August.

Graph: Number of bank commitments for owner-occupied housing


Non-banks

Non-bank commitments for owner occupied housing (seasonally adjusted) increased by 1.8% in August 2004, after remaining static in July 2004 and decreasing in the nine previous months. Wholesale lenders were up 0.3% while permanent building societies were down 1.2%. The non-bank trend series fell by 0.2% in August 2004, continuing its decline since September 2003 but at a decelerating rate for the sixth successive month.

Graph: Number of non-bank commitments for owner-occupied housing



HOUSING LOAN OUTSTANDINGS

At the end of August 2004, housing loans outstanding of authorised deposit-taking institutions was $478,277m, up $5,540m (1.2%) from July's closing balance. Owner occupied housing loans increased by $3,896m (1.2%) to close at $317,341m, while investment housing loans outstanding increased by $1,645m (1.0%) to reach a closing balance of $160,936m.


Bank loans increased by $5,285m (1.2%) during August to a closing stock of $450,190m. Owner occupied housing loans of banks increased by $3,629m (1.2%) to $294,866m, while investment housing loans increased $1,656m (1.1%) to $155,324m.