QLD home transfers & mortgages blast off

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By Leith van Onselen

The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has released data on housing transfers and mortgage lodgements for the month of October.

According to DERM, the number of housing transfers and mortgage lodgements rose by 21.2% and 18.7% respectively in October 2012, and were up 35.9% and 23.9% respectively on September 2011.

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It should be noted, however, that Queensland transfers and mortgage lodgements were likely positively affected by the cancellation of the first home owners’ grant on pre-existing dwellings from mid-October, which could have pulled-forward demand from first time buyers seeking to take advantage of the grant before it expired. It will, therefore, be interesting to see whether housing turnover and mortgage volumes dip in the months ahead as first home buyer demand pulls-back.

Finally, the below chart shows the same transfers and mortgage lodgements data on a rolling annual basis, which removes the month-to-month volatility:

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You can see that Queensland transfers and mortgage lodgements have been in an up-trend since late-2011. However, they still remain depressed, tracking -16% (transfers) and -18% (mortgages) respectively below the 12-year monthly average in October.

Twitter: Leith van Onselen. Leith is the Chief Economist of Macro Investor, Australia’s independent investment newsletter covering trades, stocks, property and yield. Click for a free 21 day trial.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.