Owner-occupier housing loans fall

Owner-occupier housing loans fell 9.3 per cent in September, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

ABS Finance and Wealth spokesperson Katherine Keenan said the value of new owner-occupier loan commitments fell by 9.3 per cent in September, while the value of new investor loan commitments fell 6.0 per cent.

“Although housing lending has fallen for four consecutive months, the value of loan commitments in September remained well above pre-pandemic levels.

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“Owner-occupier loans in September were 23 per cent higher than in February 2020, while investor loans were 60 per cent higher,” Ms Keenan said.

According to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) earlier this month, the value of new loan commitments for housing fell 8.2 per cent to $25.1 billion in September 2022 (seasonally adjusted), after a fall of 3.4 per cent in August.

Meanwhile, the number of new loan commitments to owner-occupier first home buyers fell 8.3 per cent in September 2022 across all states, following a rise in August of 10.4 per cent.

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First home buyer loans remained well below the January 2021 peak and have been similar to levels seen in 2019 in recent months, says the ABS.

The value of borrower refinancing of owner-occupier housing loan commitments between lenders fell 7.2 per cent in September but remained 15 per cent higher than a year ago, at $11.9 billion. This followed a 2.8 per cent rise in August to an all-time high of $12.8 billion.

According to ABS stats, the average loan size for owner-occupier dwellings at the national level, including construction and the purchase of new and existing dwellings, fell slightly in September from $589,000 to $588,000 (in original terms) while loan sizes remained 23 per cent higher than February 2020.