APRIL KEY FIGURES
 | Trend estimates
| Seasonally adjusted estimates
| |
| Apr 2004 | Mar 2004 to Apr 2004 | Apr 2004 | Mar 2004 to Apr 2004 | |
| |
| Value of dwelling commitments(a) | $m | % change | $m | % change | |
| Total dwellings | 15,187 | -1.4 | 15,741 | 0.7 | |
| Owner occupied housing | 9,758 | -0.8 | 10,015 | 0.6 | |
| Investment housing - fixed loans(b) | 5,429 | -2.4 | 5,727 | 0.7 | |
| Number of dwelling commitments(a) | no. | % change | no. | % change | |
| Owner occupied housing | 49,545 | -2.1 | 50,223 | -0.6 | |
| Construction of dwellings | 5,192 | -0.4 | 5,373 | 4.8 | |
| Purchase of new dwellings | 1,749 | -2.9 | 1,844 | 4.1 | |
| Purchase of established dwellings | 42,604 | -2.2 | 43,006 | -1.4 | |
| |
| (a) Includes refinancing. |
| (b) Excludes revolving credit. |
Housing finance, Value of dwellings
| Owner occupied housing finance, Number of dwellings
|
APRIL KEY POINTS
TREND ESTIMATES
- Total value of dwelling finance commitments decreased by 1.4% in April 2004. Decreases were recorded for the seventh consecutive month in both owner occupied housing (down 0.8%) and investment housing (down 2.4%).
- The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupation declined by 2.1% in April 2004, while the number excluding refinancing declined by 1.3%. The construction finance trend series recorded a decrease of 0.4% in April 2004, the eighth consecutive monthly decrease. There were also decreases in the trend series for purchase of new dwellings (down 2.9%), refinancing (down 3.8%) and the purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing (down 1.4%).
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES
- Total value of housing finance commitments rose by 0.7% in April 2004. This rise was due to increases in both investment housing commitments (up 0.7%) and owner occupied housing commitments (up 0.6%).
- The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupied housing decreased by 0.6% in April 2004, following larger decreases over the previous six months.
ORIGINAL ESTIMATES
- First home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing commitments was 13.4%, up from the record low of 12.5% in March 2004.
- The average loan value for owner occupied housing commitments was $201,800 in April 2004, up from the March figure of $197,500.
NOTES
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Darren Page on Canberra (02) 6252 6731.
SUMMARY COMMENTARY
HOUSING FINANCE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
DWELLINGS FINANCED
Value of Dwelling Finance
The total value of dwelling commitments excluding alterations and additions (seasonally adjusted) increased by 0.7% in April 2004, the second consecutive increase after decreases in the previous four months. The trend fell by 1.4% in April 2004, with the relatively weaker trend decline compared to recent months due to the two consecutive monthly rises in the seasonally adjusted series.
The total value of owner occupied commitments (seasonally adjusted) rose slightly (up 0.6%) in April 2004, the third successive month of slight increases. The increase in the value of commitments compared to the decrease in number of commitments reflects growth in the average loan size in April. Increases in purchase of new dwellings (up 8.5%), construction of dwellings (up 5.1%) and established dwellings excluding refinancing (up 0.1%) were partially offset by a decrease in refinancing of established dwellings (down 1.2%). The trend series decreased by 0.8% in April.
The seasonally adjusted series for value of investment housing commitments (including finance for construction and finance for rent or resale) increased by 0.7% in April 2004, the second successive monthly increase after four consecutive monthly decreases. This increase was primarily due to an increase in purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by individuals (up 4.3%), partly offset by decreases in construction of dwellings for rent or resale (down 20.7%) and purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by others (down 10.6%). The trend series fell 2.4%.
INVESTMENT HOUSING - TOTAL
Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed
The recent decline in the number of owner occupied dwelling series (seasonally adjusted) eased in April 2004, with a smaller decrease (down 0.6%) compared to falls in the previous six months. The decrease was due to falls in purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing (down 346, -1.2%) and refinancing of established dwellings (down 272, -1.8%). Partially offsetting these falls were increases in construction of dwellings (up 247, 4.8%) and purchase of new dwellings (up 73, 4.1%).
The total owner occupied housing finance trend fell by 2.1% in April 2004, continuing its decline since September 2003 but at a decelerating rate for the third successive month.
Decreases were recorded in seasonally adjusted terms for NSW (down 789, -5.0%), Queensland (down 310, -3.0%), SA (down 57, -1.3%) and ACT (down 2, -0.3%). There were increases in Victoria (up 388, 3.5%), WA (up 273, 4.0%), Tasmania (up 13, 1.2%) and NT (up 1, 0.2%). The trend decreased in all states and territories except NT.
In original terms, the average loan size for owner occupied housing commitments grew for the third successive month, increasing by $4 300 to $201 800 in April 2004. First home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing commitments was 13.4%, up from the record low of 12.5% in March 2004. The percentage of commitments at a fixed rate of interest (for at least two years) decreased for the fifth successive month from 8.5% in March 2004 to 7.2% in April 2004.
Number of Owner Occupied Dwellings Financed Excluding Refinancing
The number of owner occupied dwellings financed excluding refinancing (seasonally adjusted) fell slightly by 0.1% in April 2004, after a small increase of 0.2% in March. The trend fell 1.3% in April 2004.
PURPOSE OF FINANCE (OWNER OCCUPATION)
Construction of dwellings
The seasonally adjusted number of construction commitments for owner occupation rose by 4.8% in April 2004, after a decrease of 1.3% in March. The trend fell 0.4% in April 2004, the eighth consecutive month of trend decline.
Purchase of new dwellings
The number of finance commitments for the purchase of new dwellings for owner occupation (seasonally adjusted) increased by 4.1% in April 2004, after a decrease of 3.2% in March 2004. The trend series fell 2.9% in April, the fifth consecutive month of trend decline.
Purchase of established dwellings
The seasonally adjusted established dwelling for owner occupation (including refinancing) series decreased by 1.4% in April 2004, the seventh successive month of decreasing commitments. The trend fell 2.2% in April 2004, continuing its decline since September 2003 but at a decelerating rate for the third successive month.
Refinancing
The number of refinancing commitments for owner occupied housing (seasonally adjusted) fell by 1.8% in April 2004, the fourth successive month of decreasing commitments. The trend series decreased by 3.8% in April.
TYPE OF LENDER (OWNER OCCUPATION)
Banks
After six months of decline in seasonally adjusted terms, bank lending commitments for owner occupied housing increased slightly by 0.2% (up 72) in April 2004. The trend series fell 1.9% in April.
Non-banks
Non-bank commitments for owner occupied housing (seasonally adjusted) decreased by 2.9% in April 2004, after an increase of 0.5% in March. Permanent building societies were down 8.8% and wholesale lenders were down 4.0%. The non-bank trend series fell by 2.5% in April 2004.
HOUSING LOAN OUTSTANDINGS
At the close of the month, housing loans outstanding of authorised deposit-taking institutions was $456 351m, up $7 036m (1.6%) from March's closing balance. Owner occupied housing loans increased by $4 395m (1.5%) to close at $304 921m, while investment housing loans outstanding increased by $2 641m (1.8%) to reach a closing balance of $151 430m.
Bank loans increased by $6 976m (1.7%) during April to a closing stock of $428 809m. Owner occupied housing loans increased by $4 392m (1.6%) to $282 644m, while investment housing loans increased $2 584m (1.8%) to $146 165m. The larger increase in bank loans in April 2004 compared to March was partly due to the relatively large value of housing loans which were removed from the balance sheets of banks and securitised in March.
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