Australian new home lending in August fell slightly from July to 8,347 loans on seasonally adjusted basis; growth has stalled over last six months, additional interest rate cut needed by end of 2013 to aid housing recovery: Housing Industry Assn.

Allison Oesterle

CAMPBELL, Australia , October 14, 2013 (press release) – Housing Finance data released today by the ABS shows that new home lending slipped back during August, said the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s residential building industry.

“During August 2013, the number of loans advanced for the purchase and construction of new homes declined to 8,347 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This represents a slight decline on the previous month’s result and is a timely warning against complacency towards Australia’s housing market,” commented HIA Senior Economist, Shane Garrett.

“Compared with twelve months ago, new home lending activity has increased markedly. However, growth has completely stalled over the past six months even though activity was already rather low by historical standards,” cautioned Shane Garrett.

“The patchiness we are continuing to see in areas of the home loans market means that another interest rate cut from the RBA before the end of 2013 is important in order to ensure that the market recovery fires on all cylinders. Current policy settings have proven to be insufficient to drive a sustained recovery in new home lending and a renewed focus on housing policy reforms is needed to copper fasten the recovery,” concluded Shane Garrett.

In the three months to August , the number of loans to owner occupiers for the construction and purchase of new homes rose by 0.3 per cent and was 13.3 per cent higher than the same period in 2012. This included a 0.2 per cent increase in the number of loans for the construction of a new dwelling during the three months to August, with lending in this segment up 3.6 per cent compared with the same period of 2012. The number of loans for the purchase of new homes was 0.6 per cent higher in the three months to August.

In August 2013, the seasonally adjusted number of housing finance commitments (for both new and established owner-occupied housing) in creased in NSW (+2.3 per cent), Victoria (+
2.2 per cent) and Tasmania (+0.1 per cent). Lending declined by 3.2 per cent in Queensland, 8.6 per cent in South Australia and 1.3 per cent in Western Australia over the same period.

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