Australia: Housing finance demand surged 3.2% in September – ANZ

Sandeep Kanihama FXStreet Contributor

ANZ analysts note that Australia’s owner-occupiers continued to drive up housing finance demand, growing 3.2% m/m in September and 5.6% y/y, the first positive annual result since mid-2018 which indicating that rate cuts and regulatory easing are continuing to flow through to demand.

Key Quotes

“While investor lending was down ‑4.0% m/m, this is more likely a short-term dip after very strong growth in August.”

“Housing is responding much more sharply to recent rate cuts than either household spending or business conditions. The resultant upward pressure to our already high household debt weighs on household spending and may make Australian households more vulnerable to an economic shock.”

“Investor lending was down 4.0% m/m in September ex-refinancing. However, this followed a 6.5% m/m jump in August, the strongest result in three years. Annual growth in investor lending is still down (-13.6% y/y), although not as much as earlier in the year.”

Author

Sandeep Kanihama

FXStreet Contributor

Sandeep Kanihama is an FX Editor and Analyst with FXstreet having principally focus area on Asia and European markets with commodity, currency and equities coverage. He is stationed in the Indian capital city of Delhi.

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