SA housing finance drops
A new analysis shows fewer South Australians are taking out finance to buy their own home.
The South Australian Centre for Economic Studies (SACES) analysis shows owner occupier housing commitments are falling, in contrast to the national trend.
In November 2014, the trend data showed a fall of 0.8 per cent in owner occupier finance commitments in South Australia.
Year on year the number of South Australians seeking housing finance also dropped by 3.2 per cent, while the national trend showed an increase of 0.8 per cent over the same period.
The total value of housing finance commitments for November 2014 declined by 0.5 per cent – or $4 million – over the previous month.
However, the value of commitments was still 1.6 per cent higher than a year earlier. By comparison, Australia-wide commitments were up 5.7 per cent over the past year.
In the three months to November, the value of commitments declined most in Tasmania, followed by South Australia and WA. Modest gains were recorded in NSW and Queensland.
“Victoria was an exception, the value of commitments up 1.2 per cent for the third consecutive month,” the SACES analysis says.
Housing finance for investment purposes continued to grow significantly faster than finance for owner occupation.
Stay informed, daily
The national statistics show a narrowing of the gap between the proportion of housing finance commitments for owner occupiers and that for investment purposes.
In November 2014, financing for investment properties was up 17.2 per cent compared to the month before while owner occupation finance commitments increased by 5.7 per cent.
“Investors typically include ‘mum and dad’ investors taking advantage of record low interest rates using existing equity from their property, as well as foreign investors from Asia, North America and the UK,” SACES says.
Want to see more stories from InDailySA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDailySA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDailySA". That's it.
