Since late 2017/early 2018, a very clear downtrend has been evident in the monthly figures of both the number and value of home loan commitments. The latest numbers have not done anything concrete to alter this picture, although some economists have speculated the worst may be over.
The ABS has released February’s housing finance commitment figures* and they were just a little more than expected. The total number of loan commitments to owner-occupiers increased by 2.0%, a bit more than the expected 0.5% increase and an improvement on January’s revised figure of -2.5%. On an annual basis, the deterioration in the growth rate slowed to -10.7% from -13.4% in January after revisions. When “re-financings” are removed, the number of loan commitments increased by 0.8% over the month while they contracted by 14.8% when compared to commitments from February 2018.
In dollar terms, total loan approvals excluding refinancing increased by 2.7% for the month, ending the string of consecutive months in which falls had taken place. However, on a year-on-year basis, total approvals excluding refinancing fell by 18.6%. Even so, this figure was still an improvement on January’s comparable figure -20.3% after revisions.
