Today’s housing finance data for June, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), revealed a strong rebound in owner-occupied finance commitments, with investor finance commitments retracing slightly.
According to the ABS, total owner-occupier finance commitments (excluding refinancings) rebounded by a seasonally adjusted 6.2% over the month but were down by 1.3% over the year (see below charts).
The value of investor finance commitments fell by 0.7% in June, but were up by 22.5% over the year (see next chart).
Further, investors accounted for a record 51.3% of total finance commitments (excluding refinancings) in the year to June 2015:
Meanwhile, first home buyer (FHB) owner-occupied demand remained tepid in June, rising to just 15.9% of total owner-occupied finance commitments despite falling by 0.2% over the year (see below charts).
The comparison of the share of investor and FHB commitments is stark, with a near inverse correlation present, suggesting that investors are locking young Australians out of owner-occupied home ownership:
Despite the lies from the property lobby that investors are adding to housing supply, they remain overwhelmingly interested in hoovering up existing homes:
Meanwhile, the average loan size jumped 1.5% in June and was up 6.6% over the year, and is trending upwards on a 3-month moving average basis:
Finally, those banking on continued strong house price growth might get a shock from the next chart showing both owner-occupier and investor mortgage growth falling:
House prices tend to follow finance commitments, suggesting national house price growth might soon start to fall.
