Recently released figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that lending for new homes edged higher in May 2013, with the number of loans for the construction and purchase of new owner-occupied homes increasing by 0.6 per cent to be up 18.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
HIA Economist, Diwa Hopkins, said "the figures show that new home lending to owner occupiers is continuing to consolidate the stronger gains made earlier on in the year," but that "the current pace of improvement is still quite modest."
"Looking at new home lending across the states and territories, it is encouraging to see that these improvements have been reasonably broad-based," she added.
Ms Hopkins noted that "in most jurisdictions, the number of loans over the three months to May 2013 [was] substantially higher than 12 months ago."
"The unfortunate exception is Tasmania, where new home lending has suffered a particularly protracted decline."
In terms of lending to investors, in aggregate, the value of lending was up by 1.5 per cent in May.
"Much of this improvement was driven by lending for new homes, which increased by 17.2 per cent, following last month's weak result," said Ms Hopkins.
In May 2013, the seasonally adjusted number of housing finance commitments (for both new and established owner-occupied housing) increased by one per cent in New South Wales, 2.6 per cent in Victoria, 3.9 in Queensland, 0.6 per cent in South Australia, 3.4 per cent in Western Australia, 1.7 per cent in Tasmania and 4.7 per cent in the Northern Territory. The total number of housing finance commitments fell by 0.5 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory.
For more information about the residential property market in your areas of interest, please feel free to stop by your local Century 21 Real Estate office for expert and clear advice.