Strong growth in the value of home loans through the year

The value of new housing loans rose 17.9 per cent since March 2023 to $27.6 billion, after a 3.1 per cent rise in the month, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, said: “The value of new loan commitments is a product of the size of loans being approved and the volume of loans. The rise in the value of new home loans over the past year reflected increases in the average loan size, in line with rising house prices over the same period.

“Meanwhile, in original terms, the number of loans reaching the final commitment stage is broadly similar to a year ago.”

Comparing different buyers in the market, the value of investor loans rose 3.8 per cent in March to $10.2 billion, increasing 31.1 percent since March 2023.

Owner-occupier loans (excluding first home buyers) rose 2.1 per cent to $12.3 billion, increasing 8.8 per cent through the year. First home buyer loans rose 4.4 per cent to $5.2 billion, rising 17.9 per cent through the year.

Monthly value of new loan commitments for housing (excluding refinancing) – seasonally adjusted

DateInvestors ($b)Owner-occupier first home buyers ($b)Owner-occupiers (excluding first home buyers) ($b)
Mar-148.09882.60718.7795
Apr-148.30752.49898.8407
May-148.25252.5778.6414
Jun-148.24392.63168.7654
Jul-148.54782.47938.8166
Aug-148.61582.47968.5135
Sep-148.94662.48388.6343
Oct-149.1532.50278.9011
Nov-149.08792.42298.5948
Dec-149.13292.4028.9557
Jan-159.14912.35669.1758
Feb-158.89292.51258.7784
Mar-159.56122.56029.1559
Apr-1510.05022.54759.2916
May-159.12382.41298.7068
Jun-159.18922.48919.4981
Jul-158.81842.4289.889
Aug-158.43072.412710.8464
Sep-157.46012.4511.1317
Oct-156.85032.338510.8017
Nov-156.65842.35610.6601
Dec-156.73222.459610.4525
Jan-166.56552.406210.0761
Feb-166.68452.42210.2876
Mar-166.70412.337710.1031
Apr-166.88312.488410.303
May-167.20492.437910.3019
Jun-167.49912.412610.3033
Jul-167.58232.343810.1064
Aug-167.5742.268710.0438
Sep-168.34082.34310.1517
Oct-168.53232.392110.2107
Nov-168.93082.355210.3658
Dec-168.93632.387210.7172
Jan-179.00652.350910.7688
Feb-178.65062.340310.8658
Mar-178.89062.411311.2799
Apr-178.6222.440511.1408
May-178.42.48411.561
Jun-178.10112.656511.3499
Jul-177.78063.028811.2531
Aug-177.92483.191411.3308
Sep-177.8743.104911.2766
Oct-177.54323.137810.9406
Nov-177.46533.224910.9497
Dec-177.18063.238810.7549
Jan-186.92193.210410.815
Feb-187.05343.326910.9153
Mar-186.55443.217310.5822
Apr-186.37153.190110.5675
May-186.51543.289910.9962
Jun-186.24733.374710.7086
Jul-186.26783.35610.6317
Aug-185.91433.187510.0843
Sep-185.9783.13749.8281
Oct-185.67443.17819.9498
Nov-185.4213.1489.4012
Dec-185.20162.81578.9416
Jan-194.87982.84378.7134
Feb-194.99243.05199.1923
Mar-194.73542.96798.5168
Apr-194.81473.05028.8165
May-194.60613.08348.4634
Jun-194.68183.22168.6857
Jul-194.92943.4828.7981
Aug-195.08443.65458.9827
Sep-195.26643.63349.3422
Oct-195.1413.67289.6812
Nov-195.34853.88410.0012
Dec-195.68854.052510.2592
Jan-205.44194.277810.4473
Feb-205.12364.03449.8001
Mar-204.98074.10349.838
Apr-204.97614.08939.3795
May-203.86863.59488.2819
Jun-204.42573.93769.1207
Jul-204.60064.43989.9743
Aug-204.83145.06211.115
Sep-205.74815.453612.2052
Oct-205.10745.496512.0409
Nov-205.58385.628512.471
Dec-206.44136.468413.3662
Jan-216.50767.435914.9199
Feb-216.84396.765214.7851
Mar-217.66526.613715.0922
Apr-217.9786.649416.2714
May-218.33676.437915.8646
Jun-218.90176.308916.3861
Jul-219.14926.145616.7935
Aug-219.53035.707715.9296
Sep-2110.67655.453615.7843
Oct-219.71165.22114.6972
Nov-2110.91725.395716.2746
Dec-2111.34055.611116.4727
Jan-2211.55135.837217.3382
Feb-2211.30955.068116.2628
Mar-2211.47535.237815.7799
Apr-2210.76525.061315.1803
May-2210.54795.168615.5507
Jun-2210.19674.761315.2774
Jul-229.17964.55114.6675
Aug-229.04444.717213.9165
Sep-228.94354.411612.8921
Oct-228.43914.514612.7128
Nov-228.4174.176111.9667
Dec-228.16334.095911.724
Jan-237.81594.071711.27
Feb-237.91214.101511.4539
Mar-237.75394.397811.2894
Apr-238.00834.53610.962
May-238.2494.74811.6387
Jun-238.48534.790811.3483
Jul-238.65674.477411.201
Aug-238.88124.494911.6333
Sep-239.30384.746711.89
Oct-239.4035.038612.2341
Nov-239.84165.024412.4309
Dec-239.61924.917511.8035
Jan-249.55824.709512.0381
Feb-249.79784.969512.0352
Mar-2410.16655.187112.2879

“Since March 2023, there has been relatively strong growth in investor loans, with increases in both the number, by around 11 per cent, and the average loan size, up around 8 per cent, in original terms.

“This aligns with historically low vacancy rates over the same period, and CPI rental prices rising 7.8 per cent annually to March quarter 2024,” said Dr Tan.

Housing finance loan commitments by property purpose and state, seasonally adjusted – Mar 2024

Aus *NSWVicQldSAWATasNTACT
Owner-occupiers
Value ($b) :17.55.44.93.61.01.90.30.080.3
Value change ($m):47012697192271124110-80
Value % change ** :2.82.42.05.62.86.317.8†13.6†-19.2†
Owner-occupier first home buyers
Number change:427-1117474-353618-94
Number % change ** :4.5-0.55.84.2-5.92.812.9†-14.5†1.6
Investors
Value change ($m):36923641241953241
Value % change ** :3.86.20.26.23.65.32.214.3†0.7

* Total Australia levels do not necessarily equal the sum of states, due to independent seasonal adjustment

** All movements are on a month-to-month basis

† A smaller and more volatile series

The value of new loan commitments for total fixed term personal finance rose 3.9 per cent to $2.6 billion. This was driven by a rise of 4.3 per cent in lending for the purchase of road vehicles.

/ABS Public Release. View in full here.