The number of home loans approved in February fell at a greater rate than expected, as the effects of the November rate hike started to hit households.
The number of home loans approved in February fell 5.6 per cent, to a seasonally adjusted 45,393, data from the Australian bureau of Statistics showed
It was the lowest number of home loans approved in a month since February 2001.
Economists' forecasts had centred on a 1.5 per cent fall in housing finance commitments for February.
Macquarie Group associate economist Ben Dinte said the fall in housing finance commitments was broad based.
"There were expectation that it would fall on the back of the Queensland floods but if you look at the data a little bit more closely, housing finance commitments fell pretty much across the board," Mr Dinte said.
The fall in Queensland was relatively small compared to the other states, he said.
"So there is a broad based softening in the housing market in the month of February."
CommSec analysis of the mortgage market showed the rate hikes over the past year were having a "profound" impact on consumer spending patterns.
"The housing sector is cooling while businesses continue to highlight weak trading conditions," CommSec said.
"Given the subdued near term economic conditions it is unlikely that the Reserve Bank will be raising interest rates any time soon."
CommSec said it did not expect another rate hike until August, at the earliest.
