The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) yesterday released data on housing transfers for the month of December. However, for some reason, DERM did not update its mortgage lodgements data, which it usually releases at the same time.
Anyway, according to DERM, the number of Queensland housing transfers fell for the second consecutive month, declining by -10%, which follows November’s -7.9% fall. The falls almost fully reversed October’s surge, whereby transaction volumes and mortgage lodgements were positively impacted by a pull-forward of demand arising from the mid-October cancellation of the first home owner’s grant on pre-existing dwellings (see below chart).
Admitedly, much of the December fall is explained by seasonality, since the volume of home sales typically declines in the lead-up to Christmas. Indeed, the number of housing transfers in December 2012 was 2.4% higher than December 2011, and the series remains in a modest uptrend, despite housing transfers in November tracking some -30% below the 12-year monthly average (see below chart).
