Australian Mortgage Lending Continued To Grow In Late 2013

The mortgage lending market in Australia continued to grow throughout the final months of 2013, according to the latest figures released last week (January 15th), showing yet more strength in the ever recovering market. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said that although there was more of a steadying than a rapid growth witnessed in November, the month still helped to consolidate the strong levels of increase throughout the year as a whole.

In November, the number of loans to home purchasers increased by 0.9 per cent over the month before, and while this was slower than in other months, it still represents a growing in the market. The total volume was made up of a 2.3 per cent increase in loans for the building of new property, a surprising decline of 4.3 per cent in mortgages for buying brand new homes and a rise of 1.2 per cent in financing of the acquisition of existing stock.

“Lending for new homes is up substantially on a year ago and the strong state of the market is also captured by the 1.2 per cent rise in loans for existing home purchase during November,” said Housing Industry Association (HIA) senior economist Shane Garrett. The HIA said that although the figures were flatter than might have been expected, it showed that there is still momentum going into 2014, especially in the construction of new homes to meet the ever growing demand.

“There are few sectors of the economy more labour intense than dwelling construction. The strong expansion of the sector brings the potential for greater jobs market support at this time of economic transition,” Mr Garrett continued. Recently, the HIA also reported that the number of new homes being built across the nation in November had represented a 5.7 per cent annual growth.

Another positive from the report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is the fact that demand is still growing in the majority of the nation. It said that subsequent buyers were still helping to prop up the market and keep it growing even at times when the sector often faces some levels of uncertainty.