New housing finance continues to beat expectations in June

Finance commitments for new dwellings jumped 3.6 per cent in June 2017, supporting an outlook for a sustained level of new housing construction activity for the rest of 2017.

“These latest statistics provide further support for our outlook for new housing construction to keep at high levels for the rest of the year, before we see some weakness emerge next year as the pipeline of apartment construction activity (particularly in Sydney) starts to thin,” Matthew Pollock, National Manager Economics and Housing said.

“Investment housing also had a positive month, with investment fixed loans increasing by 1.6 per cent. But more importantly, investor loans into the construction of new dwellings jumped by over 26 per cent, to record the highest month for investor activity into new housing construction since November 2016,” he said.

“Victoria, Queensland, the NT and the ACT all recorded positive growth in the value of housing commitments,” Matthew Pollock said.