Australia: Housing finance is edging towards stabilisation - Westpac

Matthew Hassan, analyst at Westpac, notes that the Australian housing finance approvals were mixed in May, the number of owner occupier loan approvals essentially stable but the total value of both owner occupier and investor loans notably weaker, down 1.7%mth and 2.7%mth respectively.

Key Quotes

“This comes against expectations of a 1% decline in volumes and something similar decline for values.”

“The flat result on volumes is a slight upside surprise but broadly in line with other indicators suggesting Australia's housing market correction started to stabilise around the middle of the year.”

“The value of loans gives a much softer picture. The combined total value of housing finance approvals across both owner occupier and investor segments (and excluding refi) fell 2.4%mth to be down 20.9%yr.”

“Overall, the update is of limited interest given the data pre-dates what looks to have been a meaningful shift in market conditions through June-July.”