New investment loans have fallen for the first time in almost two years.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows the number of investment loans for dwellings fell in the December quarter, the first drop since the March quarter of 2023.
ABS Head of Finance Statistics Mish Tan said, in contrast, new home loans (excluding refinancing) rose for the third consecutive quarter.
Dr Tan said in the December quarter there were 83,206 new home loans approved, a 2.2 percent rise compared to the previous quarter.
She said the total value of new home loans approved was $54.8 billion, a rise of 4.2 percent, with the average loan size rising by $24,777 to $665,978.
“While the number of new home loans rose in the December quarter, New South Wales partially offset this growth, falling 2.3 percent, following a fall of 0.4 percent in the September quarter.
“Demand for new home loans excluding refinancing rose throughout 2024, despite relatively strong growth in property prices.
Dr Tan said in original terms, the value of new home loans during the 2024 calendar year reached $205.7 billion.
“This was 13.6 percent higher than the $181.0 billion value of new loans in 2023”, Dr Tan said.
She said the largest increases in value were in Queensland (+19.6 percent), Victoria (+12.3 percent) and New South Wales (+10.6 percent).
