HOUSING FINANCE


HOUSING FINANCE COMMITMENTS

In trend terms, the total value of housing finance commitments (owner occupation) in South Australia in December 2008 was $938m, an increase of 3.4% from $907m in November 2008. Nationally, the value of housing finance commitments for owner occupation grew by 1.7% from $12,686m in November 2008 to $12,897m in December 2008.

In December 2008, the average home loan size for owner occupied dwellings in South Australia was $214,900, which was significantly lower than the average home loan size for Australia ($257,400). Over the past year, there has been some growth in the average loan size for owner occupied dwellings in South Australia; the average loan size in December 2008 ($214,900) was 10.8% higher than that of December 2007 ($194,000).

In December 2008, the average loan size for first home buyers in South Australia was $232,800, which was 11.0% higher than the average loan size for non-first home buyers ($209,700). From November 2008 to December 2008, the average loan size for first home buyers increased by 1.9%, while the average loan size for non-first home buyers increased by 3.1%.

For information on the house price index, please refer to the ' Price Indexes' topic.