DEMAND for home loans rose in July, official data showed, but by much less than expected, as loans for owner-occupied homes slipped in the month.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of home loans granted in July rose 0.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms to 52,251.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the number of housing finance commitments to rise by 1 per cent in the month.
Total housing finance by value rose 2.7 per cent in June, seasonally adjusted, to $28.571 billion.
The value of investor lending surged 6.8 per cent in the month to $11.513bn.
The number of loan approvals for refinancing rose by 2.4 in July.
Loan approvals for owner-occupiers, excluding refinancing, fell by 0.7 per cent in the month, to be also be 0.7 per cent lower over the year.
At 12.2 per cent, first-home buyers accounted for the smallest share of housing finance in the history of the data.
Story: Mitchell Neems Source: www.theaustralian.com.au
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