The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collects data on housing finance commitments made by significant lenders and their figures include secured (mortgage) finance commitments for the construction or purchase of owner-occupied dwellings and investment properties. It has some overlap with the RBA’s monthly private sector credit statistics which also includes investor lending and owner-occupier lending.
The ABS has released housing finance figures for August and they were less than expected. Total approvals fell by 2.1%, which is less than the expected 1.0% fall and lower than July’s flat result after revisions. On an annual basis, the growth rate went even further into reverse, from a revised figure of -6.4% in July to -10.2% in August. When refinancing approvals are removed, approvals fell by 2.9% over the month and by 10.2% over the past 12 months.
In dollar terms, total loan approvals excluding refinancing fell by 2.7% for the month, a larger fall than in July when approvals fell by 0.9% after revisions. On a year-on-year basis, total approvals excluding refinancing fell by 13.6%, a further deterioration from July’s revised 8.1% fall.