Housing loans down for March
A slowdown in lending for March according to figures published by
the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), show interest rates rises are having
the desired effect.
Finance for owner-occupied housing dropped 3.4% to
$13.534 billion, finance for construction of new houses dropped by 7.3% to $5.8
billion, while finance for the purchase of new homes dropped by 3.2% to $2.09
billion. Finance for purchases of established homes also fell by 2.9% to $40.31
billion.
Lending finance is down 12 per cent on a year ago, recording its
weakest annual growth rate in 13 months, CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian
said.
Experts believe that continuous interest rate rises and strong
price growth is the trigger for the change in the lending landscape. In fact,
statistics from Australian Property Monitors, RP Data, Rismark and the ABS show
house prices faired quite well through the economic storm, increasing by as much
as 20% over the past 12 months.
Economist Matthew Bell from Australian Property Monitors suggests
price growth should moderate over this year in light of affordability.
"I do expect price growth to actually fall during the next two
quarters, as opposed to seeing actual price decreases. I think we are seeing
pretty strong auction results and clearance results, and so price growth will
moderate rather than fall."
