Financial commitments for housing in Australia seem to be on the rise, according to the latest figures from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
From April to May this year, the trend estimate for the total value of housing finance rose from $14.7 billion to $14.9 billion.
This comes in addition to news, released on July 12th, that the number of home loan approvals has risen by 1.8 per cent around this time.
Despite what seemed like a strong improvement, these figures came as a surprise to economists, who expected a 2.2 per cent increase in home loan approvals.
It is thought that movement in the housing sector has increased considerably as cheaper interest rates, brought on by the Reserve Bank of Australia, have been encouraging more people to look to buy.
However, there have been complaints that certain groups, particularly first time buyers, could be locked out of the market, as the movement of property investors combined with a shortage of housing has boosted prices.
Posted by Ravin Chatlani
