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Home loans at an 11 month high!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The number of new housing loans is at an 11 month high, lifting by 0.4 per cent in February.
First home-buyers account for almost 27 per cent of home loans take out-the highest on record. Banks account for over 92 per cent of all loans-a 33 year high.
Consumer confidence surged to 13 month highs in April.
An average wage earner paying off a $300,000 home loan is saving $770 a month of repayments compared with September last year-equivalent to a 20 year per cent pay rise.
What do the figures show?
- Housing finance: The number of new owner-occupier housing loans rose for the fifth straight month in February, lifting by 0.4 per cent. The number of home loans (56,235) is at 11-month highs.
- Construction loans rose by 2.6 per cent, while the purchase of newly erected dwellings rose by 4.1 per cent. Loans for the purchase of established dwellings rose by 3.2 per cent while refinancing fell by 6.1 per cent.
- The value of new housing commitments (owner occupier and investment) rose by 1.3 per cent in February to $18.9 billion. Investment loans fell by 2.8 per cent while owner-occupier loans rose by 2.7 per cent.
- The value of home loans approved but not advanced rose by 4.3 per cent to a record high of $43.2 billion and stands 12.7 per cent up on a year earlier.
- First home buyers accounted for 26.9 per cent of all lending in February – the highest proportion on record (almost 18 years).
- The average loan stood at $253,200, up 10.0 per cent on a year ago. The average loan by first home-buyers soared 4.6 per cent in February to $280,600 and stands 23.1 per cent higher than a year ago.
- Fixed loans account for just 2.7 per cent of all new lending.
- Banks financed 92.4 per cent of all home loans (by value) in February – a fresh record 33 year high.
Source: Chief Equities Economist, CommSec