The number of new loans for property investment declined last quarter, the first fall since the first quarter of 2023.
However, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed new home loans (excluding refinancing) rose for the third consecutive quarter.
Across the December quarter 83,206 new home loans were approved, a 2.2 per cent rise compared with the previous quarter, equal to 1824 more loans.
The total value of new home loans approved was $54.8 billion, a rise of 4.2 per cent (up $2.2 billion) for the quarter. The average loan size rose by $24,777 to $665,978.
“While the number of new home loans rose in the December quarter, New South Wales partially offset this growth, falling 2.3 per cent, following a fall of 0.4 per cent in the September quarter,” ABS head of finance statistics Mish Tan said.
“Demand for new home loans excluding refinancing rose throughout 2024, despite relatively strong growth in property prices.
“In original terms, the value of new home loans during the 2024 calendar year reached $205.7 billion. This was 13.6 per cent higher than the $181 billion value of new loans in 2023.”
The largest increases in value were in Queensland (up 19.6 per cent), Victoria (12.3 per cent) and NSW (10.6 per cent).
The total number of home loans refinanced between lenders in the December quarter was 61,749, a rise of 12 per cent compared with the previous quarter.
This followed a rise of 4.9 per cent in the September quarter.
There were 48,876 new investment loans approved in the December quarter, a fall of 4.5 per cent (2293 fewer loans) compared with the previous quarter.
The total value of new investment loans was $32.4 billion, a fall of 2.9 per cent (down $1 billion). The average loan size rose by $25,065 to $674,316.
“The December quarter fall in the value of new investment loans followed a record high of $33.4 billion in the September quarter, which was slightly higher than the Covid peak in March of 2022,” Tan said.
“Despite the December quarter fall, the value of new investment loans during the 2024 calendar year in original terms reached $125.1 billion.
“This was 29.8 per cent higher than the $96.4 billion value of new loans in 2023.
“The average size of investment loans increased 7.9 per cent compared to this time last year, despite some moderation in house prices over the second half of 2024.”
The strength in investment loans throughout 2024 was driven by NSW (up 29.3 per cent), Queensland (up 40.9 per cent), Western Australia (up 55.9 per cent) and South Australia (up 40.7 per cent). Excluding South Australia, these states had the greatest falls in the December quarter.
