The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released housing finance data for the month of November, which registered a seasonally-adjusted -0.5% decrease in the number of owner-occupied finance commitments over the month. Analyst’s had expected a seasonally-adjusted rise of 0.5%:
Arguably, the most important figure in the release is the number of owner-occupied housing finance commitments excluding refinancings, which registered a seasonally-adjusted -1.3% fall over the month, and remains some -7% below the five-year moving average level. October’s result was also revised down by -0.2%.
The number of owner-occupied housing finance commitments (excluding refinancings) in November were also 0.7% higher than the same time last year.
With the revisions to the prior month’s data, the uptrend that has been aparent since February 2012 now seems to been receding, with the series declining for two consecutive months:
Unfortunately, the ABS only provides the value of investor finance commitments. These were down by -3% in November after surging in the prior two months:
Overall, it’s a fairly weak result that suggests that the mild momentum in mortgage demand that had been building since early 2012 is starting to lose steam.
