The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released housing finance data for the month of February, which registered a 2.3% seasonally-adjusted jump in the number of owner-occupied finance commitments over the month:
The number of owner-occupied housing finance commitments excluding refinancings registered a smaller 0.6% seasonally-adjusted increase over the month to be tracking 8% above the five-year moving average level. However, January’s figures were revised up by 1.2%, which strengthened this month’s result. The number of owner occupied commitments (ex-refi) were also up 12.9% on February 2013 (see next chart).
The average loan size fell 2.2% over the month but was up 5.9% over the year. The below charts show the series on a 3-month moving average basis (in order to smooth volatility). Note the recent spike in average loan size after falling during the beginning of last year.
First home buyer (FHB) commitments rose by a non-seasonally adjusted 0.6% in February but represented just 12.5% of total owner-occupied commitments – a near record low. The number of commitments was also down 0.2% over the year (see below charts).
Finally, investor finance commitments surged to a new record high, jumping by 4.4% (seasonally-adjusted) in February and by 32% over the year (see next chart).
