Australia’s housing finance’s rate of declines eased in January from the sharp falls in December; however, the trend continues to be quite soft, with a positive turn unlikely in the near term, noted ANZ in a research report.
The value of housing finance fell 2.1 percent sequentially in January, a slower rate than the sharp fall in December. On a year-on-year basis, the value of housing finance approvals dropped 21 percent. At this stage there is little reason to expect a recovery in finance, as tighter lending standards continue to be in place.
For owner-occupiers, the value of finance dropped 1.3 percent sequentially, rebounding on the 5.3 percent sequential fall in the prior month. On a year-on-year basis, it dropped 17.18 percent, the largest fall since 2010. Investor finance dropped 4.1 percent sequentially, and is down 28.6 percent year-on-year.
In the owner-occupier category, there was a rebound in the first home buyer category, with the value of loans rising 0.8 percent sequentially after falling 7.3 percent previously. As a share of total owner-occupier finance, first home buyers rose to 23.1 percent, from 22.1 percent in December.
At 11:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Canadian Dollar was neutral at 19.7391 while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at -48.1033 more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
