Lending indicators

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This release is about new borrower-accepted finance commitments for housing, personal and business loans

Reference period
November 2020
Released
15/01/2021

Key statistics

In November 2020, new loan commitments (seasonally adjusted):

  • rose 5.6% for housing
  • rose 13.2% for personal fixed term loans
  • fell 49.6% for business construction (typically volatile series)

New borrower-accepted loan commitments (seasonally adjusted)

November 2020Month percent change (%)Year percent change (%)
Households   
 Housing23.965.623.7
  Owner occupier (a)18.345.531.4
  Investor (a)5.616.03.9
 Personal   
  Fixed term loans1.7613.25.8
Businesses   
 Construction1.02-49.6-62.1
 Purchase of property3.906.7-7.8

(a) Loan commitments for owner occupier, investor housing and personal fixed term loans exclude refinancing.

 

Record housing loan commitments in November

The total value of new loan commitments for housing and the value of owner occupier home loan commitments both reached record highs in November 2020, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released today.

The total value of new loan commitments for housing rose 5.6 per cent to $24 billion in November, seasonally adjusted, a 23.7 per cent increase on November 2019.

The value of new owner occupier home loan commitments rose 5.5 per cent to $18.3 billion in November 2020, 31.4 per cent higher than November 2019.

Loan commitments for existing dwellings rose 5.9 per cent and were the largest contributor to the rise in November’s owner occupier housing loan commitments.

The value of construction loan commitments grew 5.6 per cent in November, rising 75 per cent since July. This follows the June implementation of the Government’s HomeBuilder grant in response to COVID-19.

Other federal and state government incentives and ongoing low interest rates also contributed to the continuing growth in new housing loan commitments.

In November, the number of owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments rose 3.1 per cent to reach 13,905 (seasonally adjusted), a 42.5 per cent rise since the start of the year.

This is the highest level since October 2009 when similar rapid growth was spurred by the temporary tripling of the first home owner grant, which was part of the Commonwealth Government’s economic stimulus package in response to the global financial crisis.

The value of owner occupier home loan commitments rose across the largest states and territories but showed mixed results in the smaller ones.

Victorian owner occupier home loan commitments rose sharply, up 19.6 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in November, reflecting a surge in housing market activity as COVID-19 restrictions were eased.

The total value of loan commitments for investor housing rose 6 per cent to reach $5.6 billion.

The value of new loan commitments for fixed term personal finance rose 13.2 per cent in November, seasonally adjusted, mostly due to increased commitments for vehicles.

This recent article provides an overview of the dwelling construction and finance process, and how specific events are recorded in certain Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data series, including the Lending Indicators publication. It also describes how government grants, such as HomeBuilder, interact with the construction and finance process, and how such grants will impact ABS statistics. 

Important data quality note

Economic and Financial Statistics (EFS) collection

Lender type breakdowns

Coronavirus (COVID-19) effects in November data

Suspension of trend series

Update to seasonal adjustment methods

  

  

  

Housing

New loan commitments by purpose (seasonally adjusted)

Nov-2020Month percent changeYear percent change
Value($b)(%)(%)
 Owner occupier   
      Total housing (a)18.345.531.4
  Construction of dwellings3.015.694.4
  Purchase of newly erected dwellings1.298.517.5
  Purchase of existing dwellings12.445.919.9
      First home buyers5.704.346.7
 Investor   
      Total housing (a)5.616.03.9
Number(No.)(%)(%)
 Owner occupier   
      Total housing (a) (b)---
  Construction of dwellings 7 1077.299.0
  Purchase of newly erected dwellings 2 5002.711.9
  Purchase of existing dwellings23 7872.313.9
      First home buyers13 9053.147.6
 Investor   
      Total housing (a) (b)---

(a) Housing includes loan commitments for dwellings, purchase of residential land and for alterations and additions.
(b) There is no seasonally adjusted or trend data available for the number of owner occupiers or investors for total housing as the data was collected from July 2019.

 

  

(a) For periods prior to July 2019, statistics about owner occupier commitments for residential land are modelled using data about the total value of  commitments for residential land.

* Hide/unhide series in the graph by clicking the legend above (toggle the 'purchase of existing dwellings' series for a closer look at the other purposes of owner occupier lending).

 

  

  

*A loan is considered funded once any portion of the funds is made available for the borrower to draw down according to the terms of the contract. This will occur after there is a borrower-accepted commitment to provide finance.

**Total Fixed rate and Total Variable rate housing loans include first home buyer loans

First home buyers

In November 2020

  • the number of owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments increased 3.1% in seasonally adjusted terms
  • the number of first home buyer loan commitments for investment purposes accounted for 4.1% of all first home buyer commitments, in original terms
  • owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments accounted for 35.1% of all owner occupier commitments (excluding refinancing), in original terms

 

Additional information

  

New loan commitments to owner occupier first home buyers (original), number

 First home buyer loan commitmentsFirst home buyer ratioFirst home buyer ratio
 NumberDwellingsHousing
Total Australia14 86241.4%35.1%
 New South Wales 3 45135.6%30.9%
 Victoria 4 14047.3%38.3%
 Queensland 3 36040.2%34.6%
 South Australia 89835.4%28.6%
 Western Australia 2 28549.7%43.6%
 Tasmania 25234.1%26.9%
 Northern Territory 16652.2%49.6%
 Australian Capital Territory 31034.6%31.0%

  

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Data cubes

Series ID concordance mapping

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5601.0.

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