DEMAND for housing finance fell in September for the first time since October 1998 according to Australian Bureau of Statistics research.
The fall follows seven months of slowing growth in Australia.
WA performed better than the national trend with finance demand in September increasing over August figures.
The number of dwellings financed in WA increased 10 per cent
compared with the corresponding month in 1998, while the value of finance provided rose 24 per cent to $680 million.
Almost 80 per cent of the finance was used to purchase existing homes while the remainder was for the
construction of new homes.
The ABS statistics indicate the average borrowing was $117,000 in WA, comparing favourably with the Australian average of $135,000 and Sydney’s $162,000 average borrowings.
