New home loan demand shatters records

Overall, the ABS reported a record-high total value of new loan commitments for housing, with an extraordinary yearly growth of 23.7 per cent, with owner-occupier home loan commitments leading the upward charge with a 31.4 per cent rise compared with November 2019.

The sum of new loan commitments for housing in November stood at $24 billion, recording a seasonally adjusted growth of 5.6 per cent, while that of new owner-occupier home loan commitments increased 5.5 per cent to $18.3 billion.

ABS head of finance and wealth, Amanda Seneviratne, said: “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 implementation in June of the government’s HomeBuilder grant in response to COVID-19.” 

Other federal and state government incentives and ongoing low interest rates are also believed to have propped up the continuing growth in new housing loan commitments, Ms Seneviratne added.

States and territories

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

Interestingly, 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.