Lending indicators

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This release is about new borrower-accepted finance commitments for housing, personal and business loans

Reference period
November 2020
Released
15/01/2021

Key statistics

In November 2020, new loan commitments (seasonally adjusted):

  • rose 5.6% for housing
  • rose 13.2% for personal fixed term loans
  • fell 49.6% for business construction (typically volatile series)

New borrower-accepted loan commitments (seasonally adjusted)

November 2020Month percent change (%)Year percent change (%)
Households   
 Housing23.965.623.7
  Owner occupier (a)18.345.531.4
  Investor (a)5.616.03.9
 Personal   
  Fixed term loans1.7613.25.8
Businesses   
 Construction1.02-49.6-62.1
 Purchase of property3.906.7-7.8

(a) Loan commitments for owner occupier, investor housing and personal fixed term loans exclude refinancing.

 

Record housing loan commitments in November

The total value of new loan commitments for housing and the value of owner occupier home loan commitments both reached record highs in November 2020, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released today.

The total value of new loan commitments for housing rose 5.6 per cent to $24 billion in November, seasonally adjusted, a 23.7 per cent increase on November 2019.

The value of new owner occupier home loan commitments rose 5.5 per cent to $18.3 billion in November 2020, 31.4 per cent higher than November 2019.

Loan commitments for existing dwellings rose 5.9 per cent and were the largest contributor to the rise in November’s owner occupier housing loan commitments.

The value of construction loan commitments grew 5.6 per cent in November, rising 75 per cent since July. This follows the June implementation of the Government’s HomeBuilder grant in response to COVID-19.

Other federal and state government incentives and ongoing low interest rates also contributed to the continuing growth in new housing loan commitments.

In November, the number of owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments rose 3.1 per cent to reach 13,905 (seasonally adjusted), a 42.5 per cent rise since the start of the year.

This is the highest level since October 2009 when similar rapid growth was spurred by the temporary tripling of the first home owner grant, which was part of the Commonwealth Government’s economic stimulus package in response to the global financial crisis.

The value of owner occupier home loan commitments rose across the largest states and territories but showed mixed results in the smaller ones.

Victorian owner occupier home loan commitments rose sharply, up 19.6 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in November, reflecting a surge in housing market activity as COVID-19 restrictions were eased.

The total value of loan commitments for investor housing rose 6 per cent to reach $5.6 billion.

The value of new loan commitments for fixed term personal finance rose 13.2 per cent in November, seasonally adjusted, mostly due to increased commitments for vehicles.

This recent article provides an overview of the dwelling construction and finance process, and how specific events are recorded in certain Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data series, including the Lending Indicators publication. It also describes how government grants, such as HomeBuilder, interact with the construction and finance process, and how such grants will impact ABS statistics. 

Important data quality note

Economic and Financial Statistics (EFS) collection

From July 2019 onwards, data in this publication has been sourced from the Economic and Financial Statistics (EFS) collection, a new and improved data source collected by APRA on behalf of the ABS and RBA. There have been extensive and ongoing discussions with lenders about the EFS collection. Data quality is expected to continue to improve over time, as lenders become accustomed to the new reporting basis and further refine the data they report. This process is likely to lead to revisions, including to the historical time series - see below for further details.

Lender type breakdowns

Lender type breakdowns for Major banks, Other Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) and Non-ADIs are only available in this publication from July 2019 onwards. It is likely that more information about lender-type breakdowns will become available in the coming months.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) effects in November data

Borrower behaviour and lender processing times have been strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last six months, which has impacted the month-on-month movements. Some lenders had stated that processing times meant a portion of the housing loan commitments reported in recent months reflected loan applications submitted by borrowers up to two months prior, while personal finance commitments more closely reflect loan applications submitted in the reference period.

Suspension of trend series

The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in lending activity. In the short term, this measurement will be significantly affected by changes to regular patterns in lending that will occur during this time, as potential home buyers face uncertainty about their job security, for example. If the trend estimates in this publication were to be calculated without fully accounting for this irregular event, they would likely provide a misleading view of underlying lending activity.

It may be some time before the underlying trend in lending activity can be accurately estimated. The Lending Indicators trend series have therefore been suspended starting from March 2020. The trend series will be reinstated when more certainty emerges in the underlying trend in lending.

Update to seasonal adjustment methods

Lending Indicators uses the concurrent seasonal adjustment method, meaning that seasonal factors are re-estimated each time a new data point becomes available. If not appropriately accounted for, unusual real-world events, such as COVID-19, can distort estimates calculated using this method. From April 2020, seasonal factors are being calculated using data up to and including March 2020, then projected from April 2020 onwards. This approach, known as the forward factor method, ensures that the seasonal factors are not distorted by COVID-19 impacts.

  

  

  

Housing

New loan commitments by purpose (seasonally adjusted)

Nov-2020Month percent changeYear percent change
Value($b)(%)(%)
 Owner occupier   
      Total housing (a)18.345.531.4
  Construction of dwellings3.015.694.4
  Purchase of newly erected dwellings1.298.517.5
  Purchase of existing dwellings12.445.919.9
      First home buyers5.704.346.7
 Investor   
      Total housing (a)5.616.03.9
Number(No.)(%)(%)
 Owner occupier   
      Total housing (a) (b)---
  Construction of dwellings 7 1077.299.0
  Purchase of newly erected dwellings 2 5002.711.9
  Purchase of existing dwellings23 7872.313.9
      First home buyers13 9053.147.6
 Investor   
      Total housing (a) (b)---

(a) Housing includes loan commitments for dwellings, purchase of residential land and for alterations and additions.
(b) There is no seasonally adjusted or trend data available for the number of owner occupiers or investors for total housing as the data was collected from July 2019.

 

  

(a) For periods prior to July 2019, statistics about owner occupier commitments for residential land are modelled using data about the total value of  commitments for residential land.

* Hide/unhide series in the graph by clicking the legend above (toggle the 'purchase of existing dwellings' series for a closer look at the other purposes of owner occupier lending).

 

  

  

*A loan is considered funded once any portion of the funds is made available for the borrower to draw down according to the terms of the contract. This will occur after there is a borrower-accepted commitment to provide finance.

**Total Fixed rate and Total Variable rate housing loans include first home buyer loans

First home buyers

In November 2020

  • the number of owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments increased 3.1% in seasonally adjusted terms
  • the number of first home buyer loan commitments for investment purposes accounted for 4.1% of all first home buyer commitments, in original terms
  • owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments accounted for 35.1% of all owner occupier commitments (excluding refinancing), in original terms

 

Additional information

Previously, the ABS published a first home buyer ratio which was the ratio of owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments to all owner occupier loan commitments. The table below presents two owner occupier first home buyer ratios.

  • The first ratio is the ratio of first home buyer loan commitments to total dwelling commitments (excluding refinancing). This is similar to the ratio published prior to October 2019. Loan commitments for dwellings is the sum of loan commitments for construction of dwellings, newly erected dwellings and existing dwellings. 
  • The second ratio is a new ratio, the ratio of first home buyer loan commitments to total housing loan commitments (excluding refinancing). This ratio uses the new key statistic, total housing loan commitments. Total housing loan commitments is the sum of loan commitments for dwellings and loan commitments for purchases of residential land and alterations and additions. 

First home buyer ratios should be used with caution because the direction of movements in the ratio are often not indicative of the direction of movement in the number of first home buyers. First home buyer ratios are no longer routinely published by the ABS in the time series spreadsheets. 

The table below does not include first home buyer loan commitments for investors. Information about the number of loan commitments for investors is new and is separately presented in a graph below.

  

New loan commitments to owner occupier first home buyers (original), number

 First home buyer loan commitmentsFirst home buyer ratioFirst home buyer ratio
 NumberDwellingsHousing
Total Australia14 86241.4%35.1%
 New South Wales 3 45135.6%30.9%
 Victoria 4 14047.3%38.3%
 Queensland 3 36040.2%34.6%
 South Australia 89835.4%28.6%
 Western Australia 2 28549.7%43.6%
 Tasmania 25234.1%26.9%
 Northern Territory 16652.2%49.6%
 Australian Capital Territory 31034.6%31.0%

  

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Data cubes

Series ID concordance mapping

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 5601.0.

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