5609.0 - Housing Finance, Australia, Apr 2004  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/06/2004   
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APRIL KEY FIGURES

Trend estimates
Seasonally adjusted estimates
Apr 2004
Mar 2004 to Apr 2004
Apr 2004
Mar 2004 to Apr 2004

Value of dwelling commitments(a)
$m
% change
$m
% change
Total dwellings
15,187
-1.4
15,741
0.7
Owner occupied housing
9,758
-0.8
10,015
0.6
Investment housing - fixed loans(b)
5,429
-2.4
5,727
0.7
Number of dwelling commitments(a)
no.
% change
no.
% change
Owner occupied housing
49,545
-2.1
50,223
-0.6
Construction of dwellings
5,192
-0.4
5,373
4.8
Purchase of new dwellings
1,749
-2.9
1,844
4.1
Purchase of established dwellings
42,604
-2.2
43,006
-1.4

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

Housing finance, Value of dwellings
Graph - Housing finance, Value of dwellings

Owner occupied housing finance, Number of dwellings
Graph - Owner occupied housing finance, Number of dwellings



APRIL KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES

  • Total value of dwelling finance commitments decreased by 1.4% in April 2004. Decreases were recorded for the seventh consecutive month in both owner occupied housing (down 0.8%) and investment housing (down 2.4%).
  • The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupation declined by 2.1% in April 2004, while the number excluding refinancing declined by 1.3%. The construction finance trend series recorded a decrease of 0.4% in April 2004, the eighth consecutive monthly decrease. There were also decreases in the trend series for purchase of new dwellings (down 2.9%), refinancing (down 3.8%) and the purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing (down 1.4%).


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES
  • Total value of housing finance commitments rose by 0.7% in April 2004. This rise was due to increases in both investment housing commitments (up 0.7%) and owner occupied housing commitments (up 0.6%).
  • The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupied housing decreased by 0.6% in April 2004, following larger decreases over the previous six months.


ORIGINAL ESTIMATES
  • First home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing commitments was 13.4%, up from the record low of 12.5% in March 2004.
  • The average loan value for owner occupied housing commitments was $201,800 in April 2004, up from the March figure of $197,500.


NOTES

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 Dwelling Finance

The total value of dwelling commitments excluding alterations and additions (seasonally adjusted) increased by 0.7% in April 2004, the second consecutive increase after decreases in the previous four months. The trend fell by 1.4% in April 2004, with the relatively weaker trend decline compared to recent months due to the two consecutive monthly rises in the seasonally adjusted series.


The total value of owner occupied commitments (seasonally adjusted) rose slightly (up 0.6%) in April 2004, the third successive month of slight increases. The increase in the value of commitments compared to the decrease in number of commitments reflects growth in the average loan size in April. Increases in purchase of new dwellings (up 8.5%), construction of dwellings (up 5.1%) and established dwellings excluding refinancing (up 0.1%) were partially offset by a decrease in refinancing of established dwellings (down 1.2%). The trend series decreased by 0.8% in April.


The seasonally adjusted series for value of investment housing commitments (including finance for construction and finance for rent or resale) increased by 0.7% in April 2004, the second successive monthly increase after four consecutive monthly decreases. This increase was primarily due to an increase in purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by individuals (up 4.3%), partly offset by decreases in construction of dwellings for rent or resale (down 20.7%) and purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by others (down 10.6%). The trend series fell 2.4%.

INVESTMENT HOUSING - TOTAL
Graph: INVESTMENT HOUSING - TOTAL



Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed

The recent decline in the number of owner occupied dwelling series (seasonally adjusted) eased in April 2004, with a smaller decrease (down 0.6%) compared to falls in the previous six months. The decrease was due to falls in purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing (down 346, -1.2%) and refinancing of established dwellings (down 272, -1.8%). Partially offsetting these falls were increases in construction of dwellings (up 247, 4.8%) and purchase of new dwellings (up 73, 4.1%).


The total owner occupied housing finance trend fell by 2.1% in April 2004, continuing its decline since September 2003 but at a decelerating rate for the third successive month.


Decreases were recorded in seasonally adjusted terms for NSW (down 789, -5.0%), Queensland (down 310, -3.0%), SA (down 57, -1.3%) and ACT (down 2, -0.3%). There were increases in Victoria (up 388, 3.5%), WA (up 273, 4.0%), Tasmania (up 13, 1.2%) and NT (up 1, 0.2%). The trend decreased in all states and territories except NT.


In original terms, the average loan size for owner occupied housing commitments grew for the third successive month, increasing by $4 300 to $201 800 in April 2004. First home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing commitments was 13.4%, up from the record low of 12.5% in March 2004. The percentage of commitments at a fixed rate of interest (for at least two years) decreased for the fifth successive month from 8.5% in March 2004 to 7.2% in April 2004.

Graph: Housing Finance - Dwellings Financed - Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed


Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed Excluding Refinancing

The number of owner occupied dwellings financed excluding refinancing (seasonally adjusted) fell slightly by 0.1% in April 2004, after a small increase of 0.2% in March. The trend fell 1.3% in April 2004.

Graph: Housing Finance - Dwellings Financed - 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 4.8% in April 2004, after a decrease of 1.3% in March. The trend fell 0.4% in April 2004, the eighth consecutive month of trend decline.

Graph: Housing Finance - PURPOSE OF FINANCE - Construction of dwellings


Purchase of new dwellings

The number of finance commitments for the purchase of new dwellings for owner occupation (seasonally adjusted) increased by 4.1% in April 2004, after a decrease of 3.2% in March 2004. The trend series fell 2.9% in April, the fifth consecutive month of trend decline.

Graph: Housing Finance - PURPOSE OF FINANCE - Purchase of new dwellings


Purchase of established dwellings

The seasonally adjusted established dwelling for owner occupation (including refinancing) series decreased by 1.4% in April 2004, the seventh successive month of decreasing commitments. The trend fell 2.2% in April 2004, continuing its decline since September 2003 but at a decelerating rate for the third successive month.

Graph: Housing Finance - PURPOSE OF FINANCE - Purchase of established dwellings


Refinancing

The number of refinancing commitments for owner occupied housing (seasonally adjusted) fell by 1.8% in April 2004, the fourth successive month of decreasing commitments. The trend series decreased by 3.8% in April.

Graph: Housing Finance - PURPOSE OF FINANCE - Refinancing



TYPE OF LENDER (OWNER OCCUPATION)

Banks

After six months of decline in seasonally adjusted terms, bank lending commitments for owner occupied housing increased slightly by 0.2% (up 72) in April 2004. The trend series fell 1.9% in April.

Graph: Housing Finance - TYPE OF LENDER - Banks


Non-banks

Non-bank commitments for owner occupied housing (seasonally adjusted) decreased by 2.9% in April 2004, after an increase of 0.5% in March. Permanent building societies were down 8.8% and wholesale lenders were down 4.0%. The non-bank trend series fell by 2.5% in April 2004.

raph: Housing Finance - TYPE OF LENDER - Non-banks


HOUSING LOAN OUTSTANDINGS

At the close of the month, housing loans outstanding of authorised deposit-taking institutions was $456 351m, up $7 036m (1.6%) from March's closing balance. Owner occupied housing loans increased by $4 395m (1.5%) to close at $304 921m, while investment housing loans outstanding increased by $2 641m (1.8%) to reach a closing balance of $151 430m.


Bank loans increased by $6 976m (1.7%) during April to a closing stock of $428 809m. Owner occupied housing loans increased by $4 392m (1.6%) to $282 644m, while investment housing loans increased $2 584m (1.8%) to $146 165m. The larger increase in bank loans in April 2004 compared to March was partly due to the relatively large value of housing loans which were removed from the balance sheets of banks and securitised in March.