FHB lending strong pre-COVID-19

Commenting on the results, HIA chief economist Tim Reardon said:

“These results, along with other leading indicators such as new home sales and building approvals data, continue to confirm that the housing market had reached a turning point mid-way through 2019, providing further evidence that the housing market, pre-COVID-19, was heading into 2020 looking upwards,” he said.

“First home buyers have continued to be active in the market, with the number of loans increasing by 3.6 per cent during the March 2020 quarter, to be 20.6 per cent higher than the March 2019 quarter.

“First home buyers accounted for 37 per cent of the market, the highest proportion since November 2009.”

The stats show investor lending was down slightly during the March quarter, by 1.3 per cent compared with the December quarter. However, the result remains 6.5 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year.

“These results show that up to the end of March, we were looking at solid home building activity across most regions in 2020,” Mr Reardon said.

“Across the states, the value of loans to owner-occupiers during the March quarter 2020 was higher than the December 2019 quarter in Western Australia (5.7 per cent), Tasmania (5.0 per cent), the Northern Territory (4.6 per cent), NSW (4.1 per cent), Victoria (3.8 per cent), Queensland (3.4 per cent) and the ACT (1.0 per cent). Lending declined over this period by 1.1 per cent in South Australia.”