Personal loans up but housing and commercial down

Housing finance for owner occupiers fell 2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms last month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ August figures.

More than $16.8 billion in loans from banks and other lenders were written for the month, with banks contracting substantially in raw terms from $16.7 billion in July to $15.1 billion.

Building societies and wholesale lenders also fell, but part of the fall was due to seasonal factors, the ABS said.

Personal finance moved in the other direction, with a month-on-month expansion of 5.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms, with revolving credit commitments leading the way, up by 5.9 per cent.

In raw terms, $8.3 billion was loaned for personal finance during the month.

Commercial finance, the most substantial lending item, was at a raw value of $38.7 billion, but fell 16.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.

This was driven by a fall in fixed lending commitments of more than 18 per cent.