New owner-occupier loans rose 4.9% in October

Media Release
Released
4/12/2023

The value of new owner-occupier loan commitments for dwellings rose 4.9 per cent in October 2023, while the number of these commitments rose 2.8 per cent, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, said: “The growth in number and value of new owner-occupier loan commitments in trend terms has been relatively strong since February 2023, reflecting rising prices and demand for housing.”

The number of new owner-occupier first home buyer loan commitments rose 5.1 per cent in October 2023 and was 6.8 per cent higher compared to a year ago. The value of these commitments rose 6.2 per cent.

“In October, average loan sizes for first home buyers grew 0.3 per cent from $506k to $507k, while average loan sizes across all owner-occupier loans grew 2.1 per cent from $553k to $564k,” Dr Tan said.

The number of refinanced owner-occupier loan commitments between lenders fell 12.4 per cent to 20,518. This continued a decline from the all-time high of 28,150 reached in July 2023.

Housing finance loan commitments by property purpose and state, seasonally adjusted – October 2023

  Aus *NSWVicQldSAWATasNTACT
Owner-occupiers
 Value ($b) :17.25.44.93.31.01.90.30.080.4
 Value change ($m):9172379514130266275-3
 Value % change ** :5.64.62.04.53.216.811.96.1-0.9
Owner-occupier first home buyers
 Number change:47232876-27-35682151
 Number % change ** :5.115.72.5-1.6-0.54.561.230.60.4
Investors
 Value change ($m):4491804980355122-0-19
 Value % change ** :5.05.22.24.57.56.029.4-1.1-9.6

* 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

Personal finance

The value of new loan commitments for total fixed term personal finance rose 2.1 per cent to $2.5 billion. This was driven by a 1.5 per cent rise in lending for the purchase of road vehicles.

 

More information is available in Lending Indicators, Australia.

Media notes

  • All figures are seasonally adjusted unless noted otherwise.
  • Lending Indicators reverted to concurrent seasonal adjustment in the October 2022 release. This method of seasonal adjustment will result in revisions to historical data each month. For more information, see the methodology page.
  • When reporting ABS data, you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
  • For media requests and interviews, please contact the ABS Media Team via media@abs.gov.au (8.30am-5pm AEDT Mon-Fri).
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