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HOUSING FINANCE COMMITMENTS

• In April 2009, the number of dwellings financed (trend) has continued its steady climb from September 2008, exceeding 7,000 for the first time since March 2008. Falling bank interest rates and government initiatives to stimulate the economy continued to have a positive effect on housing finance commitments.
• In April 2009, the number of dwellings financed was 1.6% higher than in March 2009, 6.1% higher than in January 2009 and 1.8% higher than in April 2008.

Housing Finance Commitments, Number of dwellings financed

• The value of housing commitments has continued to rise since July 2008. In the month of April 2009, this value was 3% higher than in March 2009 and almost 11% higher than in January 2009.
• The total value of housing commitments had risen in the year to April 2009 from $1.67 billion to $1.96 billion.

5 Housing Finance Commitments for Owner Occupation(a), by dwellings financed: Trend
		Trend
		Number of dwellings financed	Total value of dwelling commitments
Reference period		no.	$m
2006-07		104 795	23 240.9
2007-08		93 316	22 289.2
2008
	February	7 687	1 840.8
	March	7 285	1 756.1
	April	6 891	1 669.9
	May	6 584	1 601.9
	June	6 395	1 562.1
	July	6 302	1 550.4
	August	6 275	1 561.9
	September	6 272	1 584.9
	October	6 295	1 613.8
	November	6 353	1 651.6
	December	6 463	1 703.2
2009
	January	6 611	1 767.2
	February	6 764	1 835.6
	March	6 905	1 902.2
	April	7 016	1 958.6
(a) Excludes alterations and additions. Includes refinancing.
Source: Housing Finance, Australia, cat. no. 5609.0.

• In original terms, the number of loans to first home buyers in March 2009 (2,091) was the highest since the index began in July 1991. Furthermore, this was only the second time this number had exceeded 2,000 since March 1994. This suggests that new home buyers were continuing to take advantage of lower interest rates, falling house prices and the Federal Government's first home buyers' grants.
• Following the peak in March 2009, the number of dwellings financed for first home buyers decreased slightly in the month of April (-5.9%). However, this number (1,967) was 50% higher than the comparable number for April 2008 (1,309).
• The size of the average loan increased over the year for first home buyers, rising by 21% from $246,400 in April 2008 to $297,800 in April 2009.

6 Housing Finance Commitments for Owner Occupation(a), by type of buyer: Original
		FIRST HOME BUYERS
		Number of dwellings financed	Total value of dwelling commitments	Average loan size
Reference period		no.	$m	$'000
2006-2007		13 789	3 027.2	219.5
2007-2008		16 445	3 956.9	240.6
2008
	February	1 325	310.1	234.0
	March	1 161	272.1	234.4
	April	1 309	322.5	246.4
	May	1 207	301.0	249.4
	June	1 260	298.5	236.9
	July	1 425	355.7	249.6
	August	1 264	321.1	254.0
	September	1 240	316.9	255.6
	October	1 307	348.1	266.4
	November	1 384	389.8	281.7
	December	1 774	487.9	275.1
2009
	January	1 612	455.2	282.4
	February	1 775	530.9	299.1
	March	2 091	611.9	292.7
	April	1 967	585.8	297.8
(a) Excludes alterations and additions. Includes refinancing.
Source: Housing Finance, Australia, cat. no. 5609.0

• For buyers of second and subsequent homes, the number of dwellings financed each month has been volatile during the year to April 2009. Following a sharp rise (over 15%) in the month of March 2009 , it fell almost 10% in the month of April. The April 2009 figure (4,761) was almost 17% lower than the comparable figure for April 2008 (5,714).

7 Housing Finance Commitments for Owner Occupation(a), by type of buyer: Original
		NON-FIRST HOME BUYERS
		Number of dwellings financed	Total value of dwelling commitments	Average loan size
Reference period		no.	$m	$'000
2006-2007		90 808	20 421.5	224.9
2007-2008		76 326	18 247.3	239.1
2008
	February	6 131	1 503.8	245.3
	March	5 664	1 358.5	239.8
	April	5 714	1 394.7	244.1
	May	5 516	1 339.6	242.9
	June	5 165	1 281.5	248.1
	July	5 684	1 423.4	250.4
	August	5 193	1 286.9	247.8
	September	4 788	1 207.3	252.2
	October	5 281	1 364.8	258.4
	November	4 442	1 096.2	246.8
	December	4 866	1 247.0	256.3
2009
	January	4 247	1 073.2	252.7
	February	4 575	1 165.9	254.8
	March	5 280	1 424.3	269.8
	April	4 761	1 317.2	276.7
(a) Excludes alterations and additions. Includes refinancing.
Source: Housing Finance, Australia, cat. no. 5609.0

• In April 2009, the total value of finance commitments for dwellings under construction (owner occupied) rose for the third consecutive month. This month's figure (over $246 million) is the second highest since the index began in 1975, with the highest value occurring in August 2006.
• While the value of finance commitments for new dwellings purchased for owner occupation fell around 13% in the month of April 2009, there was an increase in this value of 39% between April 2008 and April 2009.
• The value of finance commitments for other established dwellings purchased for owner occupation had increased nearly 26% in the month of March 2009, but decreased almost 6% in April. However, the value of other established homes purchased for owner occupation is still over $1 billion.

8 Housing Finance Commitments(a), by purpose: Original
		OWNER OCCUPATION (SECURED FINANCE)
		Construction of dwellings	Purchase of new dwellings	Purchase of other established dwellings	Refinancing of established dwellings
Reference period		$m	$m	$m	$m
2006-2007		2 311.2	1 224.6	12 973.4	6 939.6
2007-2008		2 270.0	969.9	12 609.9	6 354.3
2008
	February	181.9	70.7	1 035.9	525.3
	March	170.0	56.7	916.9	487.0
	April	188.5	54.3	944.6	529.8
	May	202.2	54.2	863.5	520.7
	June	181.8	66.0	821.3	510.9
	July	236.4	65.9	895.7	581.0
	August	196.6	61.4	819.7	530.3
	September	180.4	62.5	813.7	467.6
	October	202.9	64.7	937.0	508.4
	November	172.2	57.7	789.3	466.9
	December	195.5	67.2	929.1	543.1
2009
	January	195.2	51.3	827.0	454.9
	February	209.8	70.9	944.6	471.5
	March	236.1	86.5	1 188.1	525.5
	April	246.3	75.6	1 120.8	460.4
(a) Excludes alterations and additions. Includes refinancing.
Source: Housing Finance, Australia, cat. no. 5609.0; Lending Finance, Australia, cat. no. 5671.0.

• The value of finance commitments for dwellings purchased by individuals for investment purposes increased by 2.4% in the month of April 2009 after a substantial increase (almost 22%) in the previous month.

9 Housing Finance Commitments(a),by purpose: Original
		INVESTMENT HOUSING(b)
		Construction of dwellings for rent or resale	Purchase of dwellings by individuals for rent or release	Purchase of dwellings by others for rent or resale
Reference period		$m	$m	$m
2006-2007		404.2	9 511.9	717.1
2007-2008		444.0	8 476.6	841.7
2008
	February	31.5	643.4	69.8
	March	np	557.1	37.3
	April	np	624.3	68.8
	May	48.5	634.6	60.6
	June	81.9	697.5	124.2
	July	105.9	622.4	73.8
	August	69.1	584.1	60.9
	September	41.0	563.0	43.2
	October	np	632.3	33.1
	November	66.7	489.3	26.5
	December	95.3	513.8	57.3
2009
	January	np	406.4	41.4
	February	np	442.7	26.8
	March	35.1	538.7	35.8
	April	30.7	551.5	35.9
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Excludes alterations and additions. Includes refinancing.
(b) Excludes revolving credit.
Source: Housing Finance, Australia, cat. no. 5609.0; Lending Finance, Australia, cat. no. 5671.0.