By Leith van Onselen
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released the November Housing Finance data.
The overall value of dwelling commitments rose 2.1% seasonally adjusted in November, with owner-occupied commitments rising 2.2% and investor housing increasing 1.8%.
In number terms, owner-occupied finance commitments rose 1.4%, led by the purchase of new dwellings (up 2.0%) and established dwellings (up 1.6%), but dragged down by commitments for dwelling construction (down -0.4%).
Turning to the all important charts, you can see that the recent increase in housing finance commitments has been driven primarily by refinancings, with finance commitments for established dwellings (excluding refinancings) increasing more modestly:
Focussing on established dwellings only, which comprise around 95% of total finance commitments, and the recent increases in finance commitments are put into persepective:
As you can see, despite the recent improvement, finance commitments for established housing (excluding refinancings) remains depressed at levels well below the decade average.
Turning to the state-by-state breakdown, you can see that the jump in finance commitments has taken place mostly in New South Wales, with first home buyers leading the charge. The surge in New South Wales likely relates to a rush of buyers looking to purchase before the State Government removed its stamp duty concessions on pre-existing dwellings on 30 December 2011.
Finally, first home buyers appear to be returning to the market, with their share of dwelling commitments rising to 20% in November from 19% in October; although, again, much of this increase relates to New South Wales:
Overall, it’s a mediocre result following a rate cut, with the bounce in housing finance commitments confined largely to New South Wales where, arguably, first home buyer demand was pulled forward by the 30 December expiry of stamp duty concessions on pre-existing housing.
