Loans to owner occupiers fell 2.6% in January
The total number of new owner-occupier dwelling loans fell 2.6 per cent in January 2024, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, said: “Liaison with lenders suggests that recent improvements to loan processing times increased the number of loans processed in peak periods this year, relative to prior years. Although owner-occupier lending has fallen for two months in a row, the growth in trend terms was 1.5 per cent over the year.”
The number of refinanced owner-occupier home loans between lenders fell 7.6 per cent and was 30.8 per cent lower than a year ago.
“The volume of loans being refinanced was comparatively higher than new loans for the first half of 2023, but has since fallen sharply as lenders reduced competitive cashback offers,” Dr Tan said.
The number of owner-occupier first home buyer loans fell 6.9 per cent in January 2024, but was 4.4 per cent higher compared to January 2023. Meanwhile, the value of these loans fell 6.0 per cent in the month, but was 13.2 per cent higher compared to a year ago. In original terms, the average loan size for a first home buyer loan rose from $485k to $514k over the year.
| Aus * | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner-occupiers | ||||||||||
| Value ($b) : | 15.9 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.07 | 0.4 | |
| Value change ($m): | -771 | -322 | -445 | -94 | -13 | 32 | -19 | -13 | -8 | |
| Value % change ** : | -4.6 | -6.3 | -9.1 | -2.9 | -1.3 | 1.8 | -8.4 | -16.3 † | -2.0 | |
| Owner-occupier first home buyers | ||||||||||
| Number change: | -648 | -180 | -159 | -68 | -68 | -79 | -11 | -20 | -14 | |
| Number % change ** : | -6.9 | -8.0 | -5.3 | -4.0 | -10.3 | -5.9 | -7.4 | -28.2 † | -6.1 | |
| Investors | ||||||||||
| Value change ($m): | -244 | -3 | -157 | -31 | 8 | 11 | -1 | 7 | -3 | |
| Value % change ** : | -2.6 | -0.1 | -6.9 | -1.6 | 1.5 | 1.2 | -1.0 | 28.6 † | -1.4 | |
* Total Australia levels do not necessarily equal the sum of states, due to independent seasonal adjustment
** All movements are on a month-to-month basis
† A smaller and more volatile series
Personal finance
The value of new loan commitments for total fixed term personal finance rose 6.0 per cent to $2.5 billion. This was driven by a rise of 5.7 per cent in lending for the purchase of road vehicles.
More information is available in Lending Indicators, Australia.
Media notes
- All figures are seasonally adjusted unless noted otherwise.
- Lending Indicators reverted to concurrent seasonal adjustment in the October 2022 release. This method of seasonal adjustment will result in revisions to historical data each month. For more information, see the methodology page.
- When reporting ABS data, you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
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