Australia: Housing finance approvals dip - Westpac

Matthew Hassan, Research Analyst at Westpac, explains that Australian housing finance approvals were a touch firmer than expected in April, the number of owner occupier loans down just 1.4% vs expectations of a slightly larger 1.8% decline.

Key Quotes

“The value of investor loans recorded a 0.9% dip, much milder than March's 9% drop. Despite this, conditions were soft across most of the detail.”

“The number of new owner occupier approvals, i.e. excluding refinancing, was more in line with consensus, with a 1.9% decline in April taking approvals down 4.4%yr.”

“The total value of housing finance approvals, including investors but including owner occupier refi, dipped 0.4%mth to be down 5.8%yr (estimates excluding investor refi look to be down about 6.7%yr).”

“The number of owner occupier construction approvals dipped 0.2% to be down 5.7%yr. The number of owner occupier approvals for the purchase of newly built dwellings fell 3.7%mth but is still up 2.9%yr.”

“The number of approvals to first home buyers (FHBs) continues to ease back from recent highs, declining 1.6%mth. Although approvals are still up 24%yr, they are now 10% off their Nov peak.”