The value of finance commitments made for property in Australia decreased by 1.2 percentage points in April, new figures have shown.
A report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that some $19.4 billion (£12.6 billion) worth of finance commitments were made for residential Australian property in April.
While this is a decrease on the value of commitments made in March, it is an increase of 3.8 percentage points on the value of those made in April 2010.
Of these commitments, some $13.3 billion was for owner-occupied housing and $6 billion was for investment housing.
In terms of the number of dwelling commitments, some 46,011 were made in April, which is a decrease of 1.3 percentage points on the number made in March.
Last month, David Airey, president of the REIA, said that the decrease in finance commitments witnessed back in March was caused by previous increases in interest rates.
Posted by Steve Douglas