With unemployment continuing to fall to a record 4.8 per cent in July, and despite higher interest rates, the owner-occupier market has strengthened, contrary to expectations.
Home lending for owner-occupiers rose in July 2006, according to the latest Housing Finance figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which showed an increase of 0.9 per cent in total lending for owner-occupation to 64,153 loans.
Loans for the construction of a dwelling hardly moved, rising by 0.2 per cent to 4,627 loans, while loans for a recently completed home fell by 1.8 per cent to 2,892.
In the established home market, on the other hand, loans rose by 1.1 per cent to 56,634.
This follows on figures also released by the ABS this week, which show that housing investment grew slightly over the June 2006 quarter, for the first time in a year, despite a general slowing down in activity.
In the June quarter, expenditure on new and established houses increased by 4.5 per cent to just over $8 billion. However, this figure is 3.9 per cent lower than a year earlier.
Expenditure on alterations and additions rose by 2.7 per cent to over $6.6 billion, a level still 4.1 per cent lower than in the June quarter last year.
