DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

	Trend estimates		Seasonally adjusted estimates
	Dec 2015	Nov 2015 to Dec 2015	Dec 2015	Nov 2015 to Dec 2015
Value of dwelling commitments(a)(b)
	$m	% change	$m	% change
Total dwellings	33 286	0.0	33 521	0.8
Owner occupied housing	21 902	1.3	21 882	0.9
Investment housing - fixed loans(c)	11 383	-2.4	11 638	0.6
Number of dwelling commitments(a)(b)
	no.	% change	no.	% change
Owner occupied housing	57 713	1.1	58 552	2.6
Construction of dwellings	5 962	1.0	6 043	1.8
Purchase of new dwellings	3 053	1.3	3 196	12.4
Purchase of established dwellings	48 699	1.0	49 314	2.1
(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 2015 compared with November 2015:

• The trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions was flat. Owner occupied housing commitments rose 1.3% while investment housing commitments fell 2.4%.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 0.8%.

NUMBER OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

December 2015 compared with November 2015:

• In trend terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance rose 1.1% in December 2015.
• In trend terms, the number of commitments for the purchase of new dwellings rose 1.3%, the number of commitments for the purchase of established dwellings rose 1.0% and the number of commitments for the construction of dwellings rose 1.0%.
• In original terms, the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments rose to 15.1% in December 2015 from 14.9% in November 2015.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
January 2016	9 March 2016
February 2016	11 April 2016
March 2016	11 May 2016
April 2016	8 June 2016
May 2016	11 July 2016
June 2016	10 August 2016

REVISIONS

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

• Housing loan outstandings to households; owner-occupied and investment housing: for periods from December 2013 to November 2015.

FIRST HOME BUYERS

Monthly First Home Buyer statistics will be subject to future revision, as the modelled component is adjusted to reflect improved reporting by lenders. Information relating to changes to the method of estimating loans to first home buyers, introduced from the December 2014 issue can be found under the First Home Buyers web page and on page 5 of the PDF. First home buyers are defined as persons entering the home ownership market as owner-occupiers for the first time. First time investors are excluded.


CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

Market reactions to recent regulatory measures have resulted in increased volatility in some of the seasonally adjusted estimates included in this publication, particularly the value of finance commitments for owner occupied housing and investor housing. Care should be taken in interpreting the movements for this reference period, as the seasonally adjusted estimates may be revised with the addition of future reference periods.

In addition, some lenders are reclassifying housing loans that originated as investment loans to owner occupied. This reclassification impacts only Table 12 Housing Loan Outstandings to Households.


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