Trend estimate of value of dwelling commitments, excluding alterations and additions, in Australia in March up 0.2% from previous month to AU$27.52B, with value of owner-occupied housing commitments up 1% to AU$16.74B: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Allison Oesterle

BELCONNEN, Australian Capital Territory , May 13, 2014 (press release) –

Trend estimates		Seasonally adjusted estimates
	Mar 2014	Feb 2014 to Mar 2014	Mar 2014	Feb 2014 to Mar 2014

Value of dwelling commitments(a)(b)	$m	% change	$m	% change
Total dwellings	27 519	0.2	27 346	-1.1
Owner occupied housing	16 740	0.1	16 640	-1.2
Investment housing - fixed loans(c)	10 778	0.4	10 705	-0.8
Number of dwelling commitments(a)(b)	no.	% change	no.	% change
Owner occupied housing	51 952	-0.1	52 013	-0.9
Construction of dwellings	6 220	1.7	6 265	2.1
Purchase of new dwellings	2 673	-1.4	2 686	1.6
Purchase of established dwellings	43 059	-0.3	43 062	-1.5

(a) Includes refinancing (see Glossary).
(b) Excludes alterations and additions.
(c) Excludes revolving credit.

Value of dwelling commitments, Total dwellings

No. of dwelling commitments, Owner occupied housing

MARCH KEY POINTS

VALUE OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

March 2014 compared with February 2014:

The trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 0.2%. Investment housing commitments rose 0.4% and owner occupied housing commitments rose 0.1%.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions fell 1.1%.

NUMBER OF DWELLING COMMITMENTS

March 2014 compared with February 2014:

In trend terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance fell 0.1%.
In trend terms, the number of commitments for the purchase of new dwellings fell 1.4% and the number of commitments for the purchase of established dwellings fell 0.3% while the number of commitments for the construction of dwellings rose 1.7%.
In original terms, the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments rose to 12.6% in March 2014 from 12.5% in February 2014.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE                           Release Date
April 2014                     10 June 2014
May 2014                    11 July 2014
June 2014 8 August 2014
July 2014                    9 September 2014
August 2014                 10 October 2014
September 2014 10 November 2014

REVISIONS

In this issue revisions have been made to the original series as a result of improved reporting of survey and administrative data. These revisions have impacted on:

Owner occupied housing values for the periods February 2011 to February 2014
Housing loan outstandings to households for the periods of January and February 2014

Seasonally adjusted and trend series have been revised as a result of revisions to the original series, the incorporation of estimates for the latest month and the revision of seasonal factors due to the concurrent seasonal adjustment methodology.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Mohammad Mustafa on Sydney (02) 9268 4378.

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