Moderating Housing Finance

December 13th,2016

The latest housing finance figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) confirm a moderating housing market.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) says the figures for October 2016 show, in trend terms that the number of owner-occupied finance commitments fell by 0.9 per cent – the tenth consecutive month of slight declines.  If refinancing is excluded, in trend terms for October, the number of owner-occupied finance commitments decreased by 0.8 per cent – the twelfth consecutive month of decreases.

REIA President, Malcolm Gunning said “decreases were recorded in all states except Tasmania with the Northern Territory having the largest decrease of 3.2 per cent. The increase in Tasmania was 0.7 per cent.”

“In trend terms, the number of established dwellings purchase commitments fell by 1.0 percent while new dwelling construction decreased by 0.7 per cent and the purchase of new dwellings decreased by 0.3 per cent.”