New home lending rises in July

Housing finance data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that new home lending rose for a third consecutive month in July 2013, with the number of loans for the purchase of new homes increasing by 5.9 per cent.

The ABS reported that there were 8,396 loans to owner occupiers for the purchase and construction of new homes during July 2013 – the strongest monthly result since early 2010.

Housing Industry Association economist, Geordan Murray, said July had recorded a good result, "but the lack of strong upward momentum for the construction component over 2013 to date [was] disappointing."

"The aggregate value of lending for housing increased by 4.5 per cent in the July 2013 quarter. There has been strengthening demand from both owner-occupiers and investors, which in itself is encouraging, but growth has been driven primarily by lending to those purchasing existing homes," he explained.

"The value of lending to owner occupiers for construction and the purchase of new homes increased by 2.5 per cent, while lending to investors purchasing new homes increased by 3.3 per cent in the July quarter of 2013. Despite this, the total increase in lending for new homes only contributed 0.5 percentage points to the quarterly growth."

In July 2013, the seasonally adjusted number of housing finance commitments (for both new and established owner-occupied housing) increased in New South Wales (+2.3 per cent), Victoria (+3.3 per cent), South Australia (+0.1 per cent), Western Australia (+1.8 per cent), Tasmania (+1.9 per cent), the Northern Territory (+3.6 per cent) and the Australian Capital Territory (+3.5 per cent).

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