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APRIL KEY FIGURES

		Mar 2006	Apr 2006	Mar 2006 to Apr 2006
		$m	$m	% change
TREND ESTIMATES
	Housing finance for owner occupation	13 113	13 196	0.6
	Personal finance	6 697	6 846	2.2
	Commercial finance	32 218	31 699	-1.6
	Lease finance	596	581	-2.5
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES
	Housing finance for owner occupation	13 156	13 286	1.0
	Personal finance	6 799	6 865	1.0
	Commercial finance	34 722	27 411	-21.1
	Lease finance	557	537	-3.5

Personal finance

Commercial finance

APRIL KEY POINTS


HOUSING FINANCE FOR OWNER OCCUPATION

April 2006 COMPARED WITH March 2006:

• The total value of owner-occupied housing commitments excluding alterations and additions increased by 1.0% (seasonally adjusted), while the trend series rose 0.6%.

• The seasonally adjusted series for the value of total personal finance commitments rose by 1.0%. This increase was due to an increase in revolving credit commitments (up 2.1%), partially offset by a decrease in fixed lending commitments (down 0.6%).
• The trend series for the value of total personal finance commitments rose by 2.2% due to increases in both revolving credit commitments (up 3.7%) and fixed lending (up 0.3%).

• The seasonally adjusted series for the value of total commercial finance commitments fell by 21.1%. This decrease was due to decreases in both revolving credit commitments (down 29.8%) and fixed lending commitments (down 17.0%).
• The trend series for the value of total commercial finance commitments fell by 1.6%. Revolving credit decreased by 3.9%, while fixed lending commitments fell by 0.5%.

• Lease finance commitments (seasonally adjusted) decreased by 3.5%. The lease finance trend series fell by 2.5%.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Michael Abbondante on Canberra (02) 6252 6707.

SUMMARY COMMENTARY


TIME SERIES DATA


TIME SERIES DATA

Data available free on the ABS web site <https://www.abs.gov.au> include:

• longer time series of tables in this publication, and
• the following tables:
  C1a. Commercial finance commitments (original, seasonally adjusted, trend)
  C1b. Commercial finance commitments, fixed loans and revolving credit
  C1c. Commercial finance commitments, fixed loans and revolving credit by lender
  C1d. Commercial finance commitments, fixed loans by industry
  C1e. Commercial finance commitments, revolving credit by industry
  C2 to C9. Commercial finance commitments, fixed loans and revolving credit by state and territory
  L1a. Lease finance commitments, summary (original, seasonally adjusted, trend)
  L1b. Lease finance commitments by purpose
  L1c. Lease finance commitments by purpose and lender
  L1d. Lease finance commitments by industry
  L2 to L9. Lease finance commitments by purpose and state and territory
  OL1b. Operating lease finance commitments by purpose
  OL1c. Operating lease finance commitments by lender
  OL1d. Operating lease finance commitments by industry
  OL2 to OL9. Operating lease finance commitments by purpose and state and territory
  P1a. Personal finance commitments, summary (original, seasonally adjusted, trend)
  P1b. Personal finance commitments, fixed loans and revolving credit
  P1c. Personal finance commitments, fixed loans and revolving credit by lender
  P2 to P9. Personal finance commitments, fixed loans and revolving credit by state and territory
  13 Lending Finance Seasonal Factors, By Purpose and Lender: Australia, January 1985 to April 2007.

For further information, please refer to Housing Finance, Australia (cat. no. 5609.0).

PERSONAL FINANCE

In seasonally adjusted terms, the value of total personal finance commitments rose by 1.0% in April 2006 compared with March 2006. This rise was due to an increase in revolving credit commitments (up 2.1%), partially offset by a decrease in fixed lending commitments (down 0.6%).

In trend terms, the value of total personal finance commitments rose by 2.2% in April 2006. The trend series for revolving credit commitments rose 3.7%, while fixed lending commitments increased by 0.3%.

In original terms, fixed lending commitments decreased by $758m (down 24.4%) in April 2006 compared with March 2006. Movements in the original series contributing to this decrease were:

• Purchase of motor vehicles, down $206m (-24.5%), compared with an average March to April decrease of 10.6% over the previous three years.

• Refinancing, down $194m (-27.3%), compared with an average March to April decrease of 11.0% over the previous three years and,

The trend series for the value of total commercial finance commitments decreased 1.6% in April 2006. A decrease was recorded for revolving credit commitments (down 3.9%), while fixed lending commitments fell 0.5%.

The value of purchases of dwellings by individuals for rent or resale (seasonally adjusted) rose by 0.8% in April 2006, building on a increase of 0.9% in March 2006. The trend series fell by 0.3%, the second consecutive monthly decrease.

PURCHASE OF DWELLINGS BY INDIVIDUALS FOR RENT OR RESALE