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DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

	Trend estimates		Seasonally adjusted estimates
	Dec 2004	Nov 2004 to Dec 2004	Dec 2004	Nov 2004 to Dec 2004
Value of dwelling commitments(a)	$m	% change	$m	% change
Total dwellings	16,429	1.5	16,858	2.8
Owner occupied housing	10,808	1.4	11,018	2.8
Investment housing - fixed loans(b)	5,621	1.7	5,840	2.9
Number of dwelling commitments(a)	no.	% change	no.	% change
Owner occupied housing	51,438	0.9	51,931	1.2
Construction of dwellings	4,682	-0.1	4,634	-1.7
Purchase of new dwellings	1,970	0.9	2,002	3.6
Purchase of established dwellings	44,786	1.0	45,295	1.4
(a) Includes refinancing.
(b) Excludes revolving credit.

Housing finance, Value of dwellings

Owner occupied housing finance, Number of dwellings

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES

• Total value of dwelling finance commitments increased by 1.5% in December 2004, the eighth consecutive monthly increase. Owner occupied housing increased by 1.4%, the ninth consecutive monthly increase. Investment housing rose by 1.7%, the fourth monthly increase following eleven consecutive months of decreasing commitments.
• The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupation increased by 0.9% in December 2004, while the number excluding refinancing rose by 1.2%.

• Total value of housing finance commitments rose by 2.8% in December 2004, the second consecutive monthly increase.
• Investment housing commitments increased by 2.9%, driven primarily by an increase in the purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by individuals (up 5.4%). Owner occupied housing commitments increased by 2.8%.
• The number of housing finance commitments for owner occupied housing increased by 1.2% in December 2004, the sixth consecutive monthly increase. The number excluding refinancing increased by 1.1%.

• First home buyer commitments as a percentage of total commitments rose to 16.6% in December 2004.

The introduction of new accounting standards for businesses and government will occur over the period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2006. These standards may have impacts on data reported to the ABS. The changes will be introduced by business and government in accordance with their external reporting cycles, and thus there is no single cutover date. The ABS is preparing an information paper expected for publication by end of February which discusses the changes and the potential impacts on ABS statistics.

The series published in this publication are compiled in accordance with statistical standards, not accounting standards. In principle, therefore, there should be no breaks in series as a result the introduction of new accounting standards. In practice, the ABS expects that some data reported will change, and additional data quality assurance measures have been introduced to identify such cases. When a significant change is identified, the ABS will discuss the nature of the change with the data providers, and where necessary, make adjustments on the basis of advice received. Where such adjustments are made, their nature and size will be noted on page 2 "changes this issue".

For this release there were no identified impacts or adjustments made.

Expected revisions

Following consultation with a number of data providers, revisions to a number of series in this publication have been advised to the ABS. We intend to incorporate these revisions into published statistics next month. These revisions will affect estimates of the levels of housing finance, but are unlikely to cause significant changes to percentage movements for key series.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Darren Page on (02) 6252 6731.

SUMMARY COMMENTARY


SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


DWELLINGS FINANCED

Value of Dwellings Financed

The total value of dwelling commitments excluding alterations and additions (seasonally adjusted) increased by 2.8% in December 2004. The total housing finance trend increased by 1.5%, the eighth consecutive month of slight increases.

The total value of owner occupied commitments (seasonally adjusted) increased by 2.8% (up $299m) in December 2004, the second consecutive monthly increase. Increases in the purchase of established dwellings excluding refinancing (up $202m, 3.1%) and refinancing of established dwellings (up $74m, 2.6%) were the major contributors to the increase in total value of owner occupied commitments. The trend series in the value of owner occupied commitments rose by 1.4% in December.

The seasonally adjusted series for value of investment housing commitments (including finance for construction and finance for rent or resale) increased by 2.9% (up $165m) in December 2004, a second monthly increase following a fall of 8.0% in October. The increase this month was due to an increase in purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by individuals (up $246m, 5.4%) which was partly offset by decreases in finance for the construction of dwellings for rent or resale (down $67m, -10.7%) and purchase of dwellings for rent or resale by others (down $13m, -2.7%). The trend series in total value of investment commitments rose by 1.7%.

INVESTMENT HOUSING - TOTAL

The trend estimate for total number of owner occupied housing finance commitments rose by 0.9% in December 2004, the sixth consecutive monthly increase.

Increases were recorded in seasonally adjusted terms in New South Wales (up 486, 3.2%), Queensland (up 99, 1.0%), Tasmania (up 54, 5.6%), Northern Territory (up 33, 5.9%) and Australian Capital Territory (up 23, 4.0%). These increases were partially offset by falls in Western Australia (down 83, -1.1%) and South Australia (down 35, -0.8%). Commitments in Victoria remained virtually unchanged (up 2, 0%). The trend increased in all states and territories except Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory.

In original terms, first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing commitments rose to 16.6% in December 2004. The percentage of commitments at a fixed rate of interest (for at least two years) decreased to 9.9% in December, following four consecutive increases.

Bank loans increased by $6,595m (1.4%) during December to a closing stock of $468,099m. Owner occupied housing loans of banks increased by $4,850m (1.6%) to $307,761m, while investment housing loans increased $1,745m (1.1%) to $160,338m.