The Housing Industry Association (HIA) cites the latest housing finance
data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to show growth in home
lending in the final quarter of the 2013/14 fiscal year.
HIA Economist Diwa Hopkins explains that the owner occupier segment of
new home lending performed well throughout the 2013/14 fiscal year. While the
December and March quarters registered decent increases, lending for the
purchase or construction of new homes increased again during the June 2014
quarter at a more modest pace of 1.0 per cent.
Viewed over the full 2013/14
fiscal year, new home lending increased by 12.0 per cent. Low lending rates and
rising turnover in the established home market as well as home prices have seen
a corresponding positive response from the residential construction industry.
With new home lending being a leading indicator of residential building,
the latest housing finance figures suggest home building activity will continue
its strong recovery through the second half of the year.
The seasonally adjusted number of loans for construction increased by
1.1 per cent in the month of June 2014 and was up by 0.7 per cent over the June
quarter. Loans for the purchase of a new dwelling increased by 4.6 per cent in
June, and 1.6 per cent over the quarter.
The performance of different states over the three months to June 2014
shows an increase in the number of loans for new housing: New South Wales (+2.0
per cent); Victoria (+0.3 per cent); Queensland (+11.3 per cent); Western
Australia (+9.1 per cent); and Tasmania (+13.4 per cent). The same period saw the
number of new housing loans decline by 0.8 per cent in South Australia.