5609.0 - Housing Finance, Australia, Apr 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/06/2006   
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APRIL KEY FIGURES

Trend estimates
Seasonally adjusted estimates
Apr 2006
Mar 2006 to Apr 2006
Apr 2006
Mar 2006 to Apr 2006

Value of dwelling commitments(a)
$m
% change
$m
% change
Total dwellings
19 096
0.5
19 135
-
Owner occupied housing
13 196
0.6
13 286
1.0
Investment housing - fixed loans(b)
5 899
0.2
5 850
-2.0
Number of dwelling commitments(a)
no.
% change
no.
% change
Owner occupied housing
59 543
0.3
59 459
-0.5
Construction of dwellings
4 520
0.1
4 429
-1.6
Purchase of new dwellings
2 735
1.5
2 776
0.7
Purchase of established dwellings
52 288
0.3
52 254
-0.5

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Includes refinancing.
(b) Excludes revolving credit.
Value of dwelling commitments, Total dwellings
Graph: Value of dwelling commitments, Total dwellings

Number of dwelling commitments, Owner occupied housing
Graph: Number of dwelling commitments, Owner occupied housing



APRIL KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES

April 2006 COMPARED WITH March 2006:

  • Total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions increased by 0.5%, the tenth consecutive monthly increase. The value of owner occupied housing commitments increased by 0.6%, while the value of investment housing commitments rose by 0.2%.
  • The number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance increased by 0.3%, while the number excluding refinancing rose by 0.4%.


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES

April 2006 COMPARED WITH March 2006:
  • Total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions remained virtually unchanged. Owner occupied housing commitments rose by 1.0%. Investment housing commitments decreased by 2.0%, driven primarily by a large fall in the volatile construction of dwellings for rent or resale series (down $189m, -24.7%).
  • The number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance fell by 0.5%, while the number excluding refinancing fell by 0.1%.


ORIGINAL ESTIMATES
  • The number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments rose from 18.4% in March 2006 to 19.1% in April 2006.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date
May 2006 11 July 2006
June 2006 9 August 2006
July 2006 8 September 2006
August 2006 11 October 2006
September 2006 8 November 2006
October 2006 8 December 2006



CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

There are no major 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 Glen Malam on (02) 6252 5040.


SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


DWELLINGS FINANCED

Value of Dwellings Financed

The total value of dwelling commitments excluding alterations and additions (seasonally adjusted) remained virtually unchanged in April 2006 compared with March 2006. The trend series for total value of dwelling finance commitments increased by 0.5% in April 2006, the tenth consecutive monthly increase.


The total value of owner occupied housing commitments (seasonally adjusted) rose by 1.0% (up $130m) in April 2006, following a revised 0.9% rise in March 2006. Increases were recorded for purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing (up $137m, 1.7%), purchase of new dwellings (up $23m, 3.3%) and refinancing of established dwellings ($8m, 0.2%), with decreases recorded in construction of dwellings (down $38m, -3.7%). The trend series in the value of owner occupied commitments increased by 0.6% in April 2006, continuing a run of increases since April 2004.


The total value of investment housing commitments (seasonally adjusted) decreased by 2.0% (down $122m) in April 2006 compared with March 2006, following an increase of 2.1% in March 2006. The decrease this month was due to a fall in construction of dwellings for rent or resale (down $189m, -24.7%) more than offsetting increases in purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by individuals (up $39m, 0.8%) and purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by others (up $28m, 5.8%). The trend series in total value of investment housing commitments increased by 0.2% in April 2006, the ninth consecutive increase, albeit at a decelerating rate, for the fifth successive month.

INVESTMENT HOUSING - TOTAL
Graph: INVESTMENT HOUSING - TOTAL



Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed

The number of owner occupied housing commitments (seasonally adjusted) fell by 0.5% (down 293) in April 2006 compared with March 2006, following a rise of 0.8% in March 2006. Decreases were recorded in refinancing of established dwellings (down 269, -1.5%), and construction of dwellings (down 72, -1.6%) more than offsetting small increases in purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing (up 28, 0.1%), purchase of new dwellings (up 20, 0.7%). The number of owner occupied housing commitments (trend) rose by 0.3% in April 2006.

Graph: Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed


The number of owner occupied housing commitments (seasonally adjusted) increased in April 2006 compared with March 2006 in Western Australia (up 371, 4.0%), New South Wales (up 340, 2.0%), Queensland (up 79, 0.6%), Tasmania (up 82, 6.6%) the Northern Territory (up 6, 0.9%) and South Australia (up 2). Decreases were recorded in the Australian Capital Territory (down 114, -14.7%) and Victoria (down 12, -0.1%). The trend estimates increased in all states and territories except Victoria.


In original terms, the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments rose from 18.4% in March 2006 to 19.1% in April 2006. The average loan size for owner occupied housing commitments increased in April 2006 to $221,000.


Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed Excluding Refinancing

The number of owner occupied housing commitments excluding refinancing (seasonally adjusted) decreased by 0.1% in April 2006 compared with March 2006, following an increase of 0.8% in March 2006. The trend increased by 0.4% in April 2006.

Graph: Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed Excluding Refinancing



PURPOSE OF FINANCE (OWNER OCCUPATION)

Construction of dwellings

The number of construction commitments for owner occupation (seasonally adjusted) fell by 1.6% in April 2006, following a decrease of 1.9% in March 2006. The trend series increased by 0.1% in April 2006, the seventh consecutive monthly increase, albeit at a decelerating rate, for the fourth successive month.

Graph: Construction of dwellings


Purchase of new dwellings

The number of finance commitments for the purchase of new dwellings for owner occupation (seasonally adjusted) rose by 0.7% in April 2006, following a 3.5% increase in March 2006. The trend series rose by 1.5% in April 2006.

Graph: Purchase of new dwellings


Purchase of established dwellings (including refinancing)

The number of finance commitments for the purchase of established dwellings for owner occupation (seasonally adjusted) fell by 0.5% in April 2006, following an increase of 0.9% in March 2006. The trend rose by 0.3% in April 2006, the eleventh consecutive monthly increase.

Graph: Purchase of established dwellings (including refinancing)


Refinancing

The number of refinancing commitments for owner occupied housing (seasonally adjusted) fell by 1.5% in April 2006 compared with March 2006, following a revised increase of 0.7% in March 2006. The trend series rose by 0.2% in April 2006.

Graph: Refinancing



TYPE OF LENDER (OWNER OCCUPATION)

Banks

The number of owner occupied dwellings financed by banks (seasonally adjusted) decreased by 0.2% in April 2006 compared with March 2006, after an increase of 0.9% in March 2006. The trend series rose by 0.2% in April 2006, continuing a run of increases since June 2004, but at a decelerating rate for the seventh consecutive month.

Graph: Type of lender - Banks


Non-banks

The number of owner occupied dwellings financed by non-banks (seasonally adjusted) decreased by 1.7% in April 2006 compared with March 2006, after an increase of 0.5% in March 2006. The non-bank trend series increased by 0.8% in April 2006, the fourth consecutive monthly increase.

Graph: Type of lender - Non-banks



HOUSING LOAN OUTSTANDINGS

At the end of April 2006, the value of outstanding housing loans financed by authorised deposit-taking institutions was $577,265m, up $3,951m (0.7%) from March's closing balance. Owner occupied housing loans increased by $2,705m (0.7%) to close at $387,366m, while investment housing loans increased by $1,246m (0.7%) to reach a closing balance of $189,899m.


Bank loans increased by $3,962m (0.7%) during April to a closing stock of $543,968m. Owner occupied housing loans of banks increased by $2,702m (0.8%) to $360,740m, while investment housing loans of banks increased $1,260m to $183,228m (0.7%).