HOUSING FINANCE


HOUSING FINANCE COMMITMENTS

In trend terms, the total value of housing finance commitments (owner occupation) in South Australia in February 2009 was $1,078m, an increase of 4.0% from $1,037m in January 2009. Nationally, the value of housing finance commitments for owner occupation grew by 2.8% from $13,890m in January 2009 to $14,281m in February 2009.

In February 2009, the average home loan size for owner occupied dwellings in South Australia was $210,700, which was significantly lower than the average home loan size for Australia ($253,200).

In February 2009, the average loan size for first home buyers in South Australia was $252,200, which was 26.2% higher than the average loan size for non-first home buyers ($199,900). Since April 2008, the average loan size for first home buyers has increased 28.1% while the average loan size for non-first home buyers has increased 2.7%. The non-first home buyers category of loans includes loans for purchasing housing and the refinancing of existing loans. The latter type are smaller in size and refer to refinancing with a different lender, but with the security unchanged. The increasing divergence between the average loan sizes for first home buyers and non-first home buyers seen after April 2008 can in part be attributed to the increasing contribution of smaller refinancing loans to the non-first home buyers category.

For more information on housing finance in South Australia, please refer to this month's feature article Housing Finance - First Home Buyers and Other Borrowers.

For information on the house price index, please refer to the 'Price Indexes' topic.