DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

	Trend estimates		Seasonally adjusted estimates
	Dec 2014	Nov 2014 to Dec 2014	Dec 2014	Nov 2014 to Dec 2014
Value of dwelling commitments(a)(b)
	$m	% change	$m	% change
Total dwellings	30 012	1.0	30 604	4.7
Owner occupied housing	17 689	0.9	18 043	3.8
Investment housing - fixed loans(c)	12 323	1.2	12 561	6.0
Number of dwelling commitments(a)(b)
	no.	% change	no.	% change
Owner occupied housing	53 160	0.5	53 920	2.7
Construction of dwellings	6 285	0.0	6 258	0.8
Purchase of new dwellings	2 776	-1.1	2 750	-1.8
Purchase of established dwellings	44 099	0.6	44 912	3.3
(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

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


VALUE OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

December 2014 compared with November 2014:

• The trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 1.0%. Investment housing commitments rose 1.2% and owner occupied housing commitments rose 0.9%.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 4.7%.

NUMBER OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

December 2014 compared with November 2014:

• In trend terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance rose 0.5% in December 2014.
• In trend terms, the number of commitments for the purchase of established dwellings rose 0.6%, while the number of commitments for the purchase of new dwellings fell 1.1% and the number of commitments for the construction of dwellings was flat.
• In original terms, the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments fell to 14.5% in December 2014 from 14.6% in November 2014.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
January 2015	11 March 2015
February 2015	10 April 2015
March 2015	12 May 2015
April 2015	9 June 2015
May 2015	10 July 2015
June 2015	7 August 2015

REVISIONS

In this issue revisions have been made to the original series as a result of improved reporting of survey and administrative data, and implementation of modelled first home buyer estimates. These revisions have impacted significantly on:

• First home buyers owner occupied housing for periods October 2012 to November 2014 and insignificantly on:
• Owner occupied housing for periods October 2012 to November 2014
• Investment housing for periods August 2014 to November 2014

Seasonally adjusted and trend series have been revised as a result of the incorporation of estimates for the latest month and the revision of seasonal factors due to the concurrent seasonal adjustment methodology.


FIRST HOME BUYERS

In this issue, the ABS changed its method of estimating loans to first home buyers by adjusting for under-reporting by some lenders that only report on those buyers receiving a first home owner grant. Data on first home buyers are collected by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) under the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001. The ABS is working with APRA to ensure all loans to first home buyers are recorded in the future, regardless of whether they receive a first home owner grant or not.

Revisions have been made to previously published first home buyer statistics using a model developed by the ABS for lenders who are under-reporting loans to first home buyers. The model draws on the ratio of first home buyers to total loans for those lenders reporting correctly. The new estimation method will be used in future releases, and updated as lenders progressively improve their reporting.

The total value of home lending is separately reported and is not affected.

The information paper "Changes to the method of estimating loan commitments to first home buyers"(cat. no. 5609.0.55.003), released on the ABS website on 4 February 2015, describes the new methodology and the extent of revisions. For further information on the first home buyers adjustments, please email <finacct@abs.gov.au> or phone the Financial Statistics Section on Sydney (02) 9268 4186.


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INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.