Despite interest rate rises from banks, November has seen a 4.9 per cent jump in lending to property investors around the nation.
It was a nice spike from the previous month of October, which recorded an increase of just 1.5 per cent.
In comparison, the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show owner-occupier housing loans rose 1.6 per cent for the month.
The results were higher than expected and show that there’s plenty of action and interest still in the property market despite rate rises and banking regulator crackdowns.
ANZ economist Daniel Gradwell spoke to The Australian Financial Review about the robust market.
“There’s obviously plenty of demand out there still,” he said.
“We’ve seen small interest rate increases, especially for investors, haven’t done much to dampen appetite for properties.”
“It’s going to continue to support price growth in the near term.”
“Unfortunately for first-home buyers, the strong price growth in recent months is not such a happy story.”
“Hampered by price increases, soft wages growth, and low interest rates affecting the return on savings, the number of first-home buyers per month has actually fallen slightly over the past year.”
As for new home construction, loan commitments for those rose in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia. They fell in the other states and territories.
The Housing Industry Association says that means new home construction is likely to stay strong in the near term.
“The new home building sector will continue to provide strong support to the broader Australian economy through the first half of 2017,” HIA’s chief economist Harley Dale told the Australian Financial Review.
With more loans being written and prices continuing to rise it will put more pressure on regulators to try and take the heat from the market in the current economic climate.
