Home loans stats show strong WA market

Housing finance commitments in Western Australia rose by 0.8 per cent in September, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ seasonally adjusted figures, bucking a national falling trend.

The ABS said there were 7,675 loans approved for residential owner-occupiers in September in WA, with a total value of $2.44 billion.

Across Australia, housing finance commitments fell by 0.1 per cent in NSW, 3 per cent in Victoria, 0.6 per cent in Queensland and 2.1 per cent in South Australia, according to the bureau’s seasonally adjusted figures.

Tasmanian housing finance commitments rose 5.8 per cent in September, seasonally adjusted, while they also increased by 9.6 per cent in the Northern Territory and by 3.7 per cent in the ACT.

Australia-wide, the seasonally adjusted numbers showed a 0.7 per cent fall in housing finance commitments for owner-occupiers.

Urban Development Institute of Australia WA chief executive Debra Goostrey said the WA statistics told a story of a strong housing construction market.

“New housing construction finance data has continued strongly since the record was smashed in May this year with a total of 1,945 commitments for new dwelling construction,” she said.

“Five months after that all time-high, we still have finance commitments for the construction of new dwellings up 42 per cent on the 10-year average, demonstrating the depth in the market.”

The statistics showed an increase in first homebuyers, with the total number of loans rising 3.9 per cent and the average size jumping $6,000.

Non-first time buyers also increased, by 4.7 per cent, but their average loan size fell by $13,700.

Ms Goostrey said the institute’s weekly lot sales data had been trending upwards since the beginning of September, suggesting strong construction finance figures would continue over the next few months.