HomeBuilder spurs loan recovery: ABS

“The 9 per cent jump in the number of owner-occupier loans for the building of new homes in the month is encouraging and shows the highly effective impact of HomeBuilder in activating demand,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia, said.

That being said, Ms Wawn noted that the outlook for the industry and the economy remains grim, with calls for HomeBuilder to be extended for 12 months justifiable.

“HomeBuilder should be extended for 12 months in the federal budget to help maintain a pipeline of work and be a lifeline for builders and tradies,” she said.

“Lending for residential land purchase jumped by 31.5 per cent over the month. There was also an increase (+4.0 per cent) in the number of loans provided for the purchase of new dwellings by owner-occupiers during July.”

Further, Ms Wawn said the home renovations market also appears to be responding well to the rollout of HomeBuilder across the country.

“During July, the number of loans to owner-occupiers for home alterations/additions experienced a 6.3 per cent uplift compared with the previous month,” she said.

“Our latest forecasts estimate that HomeBuilder is likely to boost new home building commencements by almost 10,000 during 2020-21, but the sector still faces a forecast of 27 per cent decline.

“The heavy interlinkage between construction and the wider Australia economy means that the economic benefits across a range of sectors will be even greater than a boost to residential building activity.

“While the purchase of established homes are obviously not eligible for HomeBuilder, lending in this part of the loan market still jumped substantially during July. This is another encouraging sign, showing that HomeBuilder is starting to help strengthen sentiment even in those areas which it does not directly target.”