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 July and the figures indicate the number of owner-occupier approvals rose by 2.9% over the month and by 3.3% when compared to July 2016. Excluding refinancing, the number of approvals was 4.5% more than June and 14.8% higher than a year ago. These figures were largely in line with market expectations.
In dollar terms, owner-occupier loan approvals increased by 0.9% in July, an increase on June’s 0.6% rise and just below the markets expectation of +1%. Compared to July 2016 loans of this type were 5.8% higher. Investor loans contracted by 3.9% in July but compared to 12 months ago they were just 0.1% lower, which was quite a drop from June’s year-on-year figure of 6.0%. The value of total loan approvals excluding refinancing was 8.7% higher than comparable figures from July 2016 and comfortably under the 10% maximum housing credit growth rate designated by APRA.
Westpac economist Simon Murray thought the report indicated success for APRA’s goal of dampening investor borrowing. “Overall, the numbers suggest that financing for owner-occupiers mid-year was well supported with first home buyers getting more of a foot in to the housing market. In addition, there are further signs that macro-prudential measures are slowing investor activity.”