MARCH KEY FIGURES

	Trend estimates		Seasonally adjusted estimates
	Mar 2011	Feb 2011 to Mar 2011	Mar 2011	Feb 2011 to Mar 2011
Value of dwelling commitments(a)(b)	$m	% change	$m	% change
Total dwellings	19 592	-1.6	19 300	-0.1
Owner occupied housing	13 335	-1.7	13 019	-1.1
Investment housing - fixed loans(c)	6 256	-1.3	6 282	2.1
Number of dwelling commitments(a)(b)	no.	% change	no.	% change
Owner occupied housing	46 203	-2.0	44 968	-1.5
Construction of dwellings	4 567	-1.6	4 526	-1.1
Purchase of new dwellings	1 905	-5.6	1 850	2.4
Purchase of established dwellings	39 732	-1.9	38 592	-1.8
(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

MARCH KEY POINTS


VALUE OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

March 2011 compared with February 2011:

• The trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions fell 1.6%. Owner occupied housing commitments fell 1.7% and investment housing commitments fell 1.3%.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions fell 0.1%.

NUMBER OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

March 2011 compared with February 2011:

• In trend terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance fell 2.0%.
• In trend terms, the number of commitments for the purchase of new dwellings fell 5.6%, the number of commitments for the purchase of established dwellings fell 1.9% and the number of commitments for the construction of dwellings fell 1.6%.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance fell 1.5%.
• In original terms, the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments rose from 14.9% in February 2011 to 16.0% in March 2011.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
April 2011	8 June 2011
May 2011	11 July 2011
June 2011	9 August 2011
July 2011	7 September 2011
August 2011	12 October 2011
Sept 2011	9 November 2011

IMPACT OF THE FLOODS

Extensive flooding began in late December 2010 in Queensland, and was more extensive in both Queensland and other states in January 2011. The collection and processing of data included in this publication were not disrupted.

On a month to month basis, original and seasonally adjusted series can be impacted by a number of factors including interest rates, supply constraints, consumer confidence and unusual influences. The specific impact of floods on these estimates can not be quantified.

The trend series provide an estimate of the underlying behaviour of a series over time but, in the short term, may be distorted by unusual influences impacting on the original and seasonally adjusted estimates. Trend series will be subject to revision in future issues as additional monthly original estimates become available. Users are advised to exercise caution when using the most recent trend estimates.

For further information please refer to page 3 of the August 2009 issue of Australian Economic Indicators (cat. no. 1350.0).


REVISIONS

In this issue revisions have been made to the original series as a result of improved reporting of survey and administrative data. These revisions impact on:

• Owner occupied housing for February 2011; and
• Housing loan outstandings to households for the period December 2010 to February 2011.

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


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Steve Sykes on Canberra (02) 6252 6446.