Housing Loan Commitments
Seasonally adjusted housing loan commitments increased by 4.9%, signaling a positive change in the market.
Personal Loan Commitments
Personal fixed-term loan commitments, on the other hand, decreased by 3.1%, showing a decline in consumer borrowing.
Business Construction Loan Commitments
Business construction loan commitments saw a sharp decline of 23.2%, a typically volatile sector. However, when looking at the trend, there was a modest rise of 1.8%.
Business Property Loan Commitments
Business property loan commitments also experienced a decrease of 1.3%. Trend data revealed a slight further decline of 0.7%.
Home Loan Statistics: March 2023 Overview
Refinance Activity and Lending Growth
March 2023 marked a significant uptick in refinance activity, with the total value of new home lending seeing a 4.9% increase. This rise brought the total to just under $24 billion, reversing a downward trend that began in January 2022. This suggests a potential rebound in the lending market.
Impact of Cash Rate Increase
Despite a 25-basis point increase in the cash rate to 3.6% during February and March 2023, lending activity began to recover. This follows a 1.0% decline in February, indicating renewed market momentum.
Detailed Breakdown of home Loans Lending Activity
Owner-Occupier Lending
Owner-occupier lending saw a notable 5.5% rise in March 2023, reaching nearly $16 billion. This increase highlights growing demand for homeownership, even amid rising interest rates.
Investor Lending
Investor lending also increased by 3.7%, totaling just under $8 billion for the month. This suggests ongoing confidence in the property market, even as lending conditions tighten.
State-wise Lending Trends
New South Wales (NSW) recorded the highest increase in owner-occupied borrowings, with a 2% rise to nearly $5 billion. Victoria followed closely with $4.4 billion, while Queensland and Western Australia saw $3.1 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively. Other states and territories also experienced growth, but their total borrowings remained below $1 billion.
Loan Sizes and Market Recovery
Average Loan Sizes
Despite overall growth in lending, average loan sizes have decreased. In NSW, the average dropped from $727,000 to $711,000, while in Victoria, it fell from $618,000 to $591,000 in March 2023.
Nationally, average loan sizes for owner-occupied dwellings decreased from $586,000 to $577,000. While this is lower than recent months, it still represents a 20.2% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels recorded in February 2020.
Compare home loans
Overall Lending Market
Despite the increase in lending values, the new figures remain below the record highs observed during the 2022 property boom. In March 2023, new owner-occupier loan commitments were 25% lower than the same period last year, and new investor loan commitments saw a 29% drop (Australian Bureau of statistics)
