New home loans fall in March quarter

Media Release

Released

13/05/2026

Source

Lending indicators, March Quarter 2026

Release date and time

13/05/2026 11:30am AEST

The number of new home loans fell 6.2 per cent to 139,794 in March quarter 2026, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Dr Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, said: ‘Falls were recorded across all borrower types this quarter, following strong growth throughout 2025 and cash rate rises in February and March.’

‘Despite this quarter’s fall, lending activity remains at high levels, with total new home loans 8.6 per cent higher than a year ago.’

The value of total new loans also fell 3.8 per cent (-$4.0 billion) to $103.0 billion in the March quarter, but was 18.5 per cent higher through the year.

‘Annual growth in the value of new lending has continued to outpace growth in the number of loans, a trend we have seen since December quarter 2023,’ Dr Tan said.

‘The average home loan size is now 9.0 per cent higher than a year ago at $724,415. This is consistent with rising property prices, with the strongest growth in Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia.’

Number of new loan commitments for dwellings (a), seasonally adjusted, Australia
	Total dwellings (seasadj) (no.)	Owner occupier (seasadj) (no.)	Investor (seasadj) (no.)
Mar-16	NA	84,630	NA
Jun-16	NA	88,785	NA
Sep-16	NA	82,568	NA
Dec-16	NA	84,146	NA
Mar-17	NA	89,499	NA
Jun-17	NA	90,157	NA
Sep-17	NA	93,217	NA
Dec-17	NA	89,485	NA
Mar-18	NA	87,113	NA
Jun-18	NA	86,806	NA
Sep-18	NA	83,325	NA
Dec-18	NA	80,859	NA
Mar-19	NA	75,211	NA
Jun-19	NA	73,447	NA
Sep-19	108,301	77,179	31,122
Dec-19	111,837	80,381	31,456
Mar-20	109,558	79,885	29,673
Jun-20	94,915	70,796	24,119
Sep-20	119,652	90,472	29,181
Dec-20	134,789	102,899	31,891
Mar-21	156,507	118,570	37,937
Jun-21	158,671	115,387	43,284
Sep-21	158,162	108,694	49,468
Dec-21	155,572	103,156	52,415
Mar-22	153,305	100,255	53,050
Jun-22	142,698	93,662	49,036
Sep-22	129,252	86,017	43,236
Dec-22	116,189	76,858	39,331
Mar-23	110,021	73,237	36,784
Jun-23	116,594	77,576	39,018
Sep-23	115,456	75,533	39,924
Dec-23	122,279	79,121	43,158
Mar-24	120,937	76,841	44,096
Jun-24	133,859	83,739	50,120
Sep-24	134,130	83,165	50,965
Dec-24	131,392	82,477	48,915
Mar-25	128,732	80,453	48,279
Jun-25	135,055	84,151	50,904
Sep-25	141,555	84,423	57,133
Dec-25	149,066	88,537	60,529
Mar-26	139,794	82,453	57,342

Number of new loan commitments for dwellings (a), seasonally adjusted, Australia

[" ","Total dwellings (seasadj)","Owner occupier (seasadj)","Investor (seasadj)"]

[["Mar-16","Jun-16","Sep-16","Dec-16","Mar-17","Jun-17","Sep-17","Dec-17","Mar-18","Jun-18","Sep-18","Dec-18","Mar-19","Jun-19","Sep-19","Dec-19","Mar-20","Jun-20","Sep-20","Dec-20","Mar-21","Jun-21","Sep-21","Dec-21","Mar-22","Jun-22","Sep-22","Dec-22","Mar-23","Jun-23","Sep-23","Dec-23","Mar-24","Jun-24","Sep-24","Dec-24","Mar-25","Jun-25","Sep-25","Dec-25","Mar-26"],[[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[108301],[111837],[109558],[94915],[119652],[134789],[156507],[158671],[158162],[155572],[153305],[142698],[129252],[116189],[110021],[116594],[115456],[122279],[120937],[133859],[134130],[131392],[128732],[135055],[141555],[149066],[139794]],[[84630],[88785],[82568],[84146],[89499],[90157],[93217],[89485],[87113],[86806],[83325],[80859],[75211],[73447],[77179],[80381],[79885],[70796],[90472],[102899],[118570],[115387],[108694],[103156],[100255],[93662],[86017],[76858],[73237],[77576],[75533],[79121],[76841],[83739],[83165],[82477],[80453],[84151],[84423],[88537],[82453]],[[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[31122],[31456],[29673],[24119],[29181],[31891],[37937],[43284],[49468],[52415],[53050],[49036],[43236],[39331],[36784],[39018],[39924],[43158],[44096],[50120],[50965],[48915],[48279],[50904],[57133],[60529],[57342]]]

[]

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All series exclude refinancing.
Some series only commenced collection in the September quarter 2019 with the introduction of the Economic and Financial Statistics collection.
Loan commitments for dwellings includes loans for the purpose of ‘Construction of new dwellings’, ‘Purchase of new dwellings’ and ‘Purchase of existing dwellings’. 'Residential land' and 'Alterations and additions' are available as separate series.

Value of new loan commitments for dwellings (a), seasonally adjusted, Australia
	Total dwellings (seasadj) ($b)	Owner occupier (seasadj) ($b)	Investor (seasadj) ($b)
Mar-16	53.252	34.676	18.576
Jun-16	56.224	35.943	20.28
Sep-16	56.576	34.553	22.024
Dec-16	60.024	35.618	24.406
Mar-17	62.631	37.463	25.168
Jun-17	61.055	38.17	22.885
Sep-17	61.487	39.637	21.851
Dec-17	59.351	38.927	20.423
Mar-18	57.739	38.705	19.033
Jun-18	56.744	38.957	17.787
Sep-18	54.034	37.094	16.939
Dec-18	50.26	34.991	15.269
Mar-19	46.169	32.514	13.655
Jun-19	45.361	32.442	12.919
Sep-19	50.074	35.582	14.492
Dec-19	54.329	39.181	15.148
Mar-20	54.416	39.63	14.786
Jun-20	47.328	35.158	12.169
Sep-20	58.512	44.241	14.27
Dec-20	67.326	51.268	16.058
Mar-21	80.39	60.233	20.157
Jun-21	86.688	62.863	23.826
Sep-21	89.978	62.346	27.632
Dec-21	90.997	60.513	30.485
Mar-22	93.592	60.71	32.882
Jun-22	86.515	57.11	29.404
Sep-22	76.869	51.462	25.408
Dec-22	68.804	45.691	23.114
Mar-23	65.754	43.25	22.504
Jun-23	68.173	45.198	22.975
Sep-23	69.321	44.903	24.419
Dec-23	74.585	48.03	26.554
Mar-24	75.718	47.285	28.433
Jun-24	84.316	52.931	31.385
Sep-24	86.928	53.522	33.406
Dec-24	86.666	54.183	32.483
Mar-25	86.905	53.753	33.151
Jun-25	91.005	57.207	33.798
Sep-25	98.26	58.674	39.586
Dec-25	107.006	64.184	42.822
Mar-26	102.959	61.422	41.538

Value of new loan commitments for dwellings (a), seasonally adjusted, Australia

[" ","Total dwellings (seasadj)","Owner occupier (seasadj)","Investor (seasadj)"]

[["Mar-16","Jun-16","Sep-16","Dec-16","Mar-17","Jun-17","Sep-17","Dec-17","Mar-18","Jun-18","Sep-18","Dec-18","Mar-19","Jun-19","Sep-19","Dec-19","Mar-20","Jun-20","Sep-20","Dec-20","Mar-21","Jun-21","Sep-21","Dec-21","Mar-22","Jun-22","Sep-22","Dec-22","Mar-23","Jun-23","Sep-23","Dec-23","Mar-24","Jun-24","Sep-24","Dec-24","Mar-25","Jun-25","Sep-25","Dec-25","Mar-26"],[[53.252],[56.224],[56.576],[60.024],[62.631],[61.055],[61.487],[59.351],[57.739],[56.744],[54.034],[50.26],[46.169],[45.361],[50.074],[54.329],[54.416],[47.328],[58.512],[67.326],[80.39],[86.688],[89.978],[90.997],[93.592],[86.515],[76.869],[68.804],[65.754],[68.173],[69.321],[74.585],[75.718],[84.316],[86.928],[86.666],[86.905],[91.005],[98.26],[107.006],[102.959]],[[34.676],[35.943],[34.553],[35.618],[37.463],[38.17],[39.637],[38.927],[38.705],[38.957],[37.094],[34.991],[32.514],[32.442],[35.582],[39.181],[39.63],[35.158],[44.241],[51.268],[60.233],[62.863],[62.346],[60.513],[60.71],[57.11],[51.462],[45.691],[43.25],[45.198],[44.903],[48.03],[47.285],[52.931],[53.522],[54.183],[53.753],[57.207],[58.674],[64.184],[61.422]],[[18.576],[20.28],[22.024],[24.406],[25.168],[22.885],[21.851],[20.423],[19.033],[17.787],[16.939],[15.269],[13.655],[12.919],[14.492],[15.148],[14.786],[12.169],[14.27],[16.058],[20.157],[23.826],[27.632],[30.485],[32.882],[29.404],[25.408],[23.114],[22.504],[22.975],[24.419],[26.554],[28.433],[31.385],[33.406],[32.483],[33.151],[33.798],[39.586],[42.822],[41.538]]]

[]

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All series exclude refinancing.
Loan commitments for dwellings includes loans for the purpose of ‘Construction of new dwellings’, ‘Purchase of new dwellings’ and ‘Purchase of existing dwellings’. 'Residential land' and 'Alterations and additions' are available as separate series.

First home buyer loans fell after a strong rise in December quarter

The number of first home buyer owner-occupied loans fell 4.3 per cent (-1,349 loans) in March quarter 2026, after a 6.5 per cent rise in the previous quarter. Lending to first home buyers was 5.0 per cent higher through the year.

All states and territories fell except the Australian Capital Territory, which rose 6.5 per cent. The largest falls were recorded in Victoria (-4.5 per cent), Queensland (-5.8 per cent) and New South Wales (-4.1 per cent).

The value of first home buyer loans also fell this quarter, down 6.7 per cent (-$1.3 billion) to $17.9 billion. This was 17.9 per cent higher than a year ago.

The average loan size rose 1.1 per cent ($6,425) to $614,048 in the March quarter. This followed an 8.5 per cent ($47,375) rise in the previous quarter when the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme was expanded.

Media notes

All figures are seasonally adjusted unless noted otherwise.
Lending Indicators reverted to concurrent seasonal adjustment in the October 2022 release. This method of seasonal adjustment will result in revisions to historical data each quarter. For more information, see the methodology page
For any media requests, email media@abs.gov.au or call 1300 175 070 (9am-5pm Canberra time) with your questions and deadline.
Please attribute the 'Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)' when using our data.
Explore our Data Crash Course for guidance on finding and interpreting ABS data, and subscribe to our release notifications to stay updated.
Information on how the ABS will release market sensitive releases during a website or API outage.

APA

Citation

New home loans fall in March quarter

APA

Citation

First home buyer loans fell after a strong rise in December quarter

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