The mortgage market slumped in January 2011 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), with the value of dwelling commitments down more than 5% from the previous month. Data from the ABS shows that (on a seasonally adjusted basis), the number of dwellings financed fell 4.5 per cent, from 51,200 in December 2010 to 48,900 in January 2011.
In addition, the value of dwellings financed fell five per cent from A$21.4 in December to $20.3 billion in January. Year-on-year, the number of home loans being written each month is down about two per cent. The critical factor was the state of the Queensland market, where extreme weather led to a 16% fall in activity in January 2011.
The big fall was foreshadowed by mortgage aggregator AFG, which reported a 40% fall in activity from December 2010 to January 2011. The ABS raw data shows a fall of about 30% over the period. So extreme was the AFG figure that it looked as though it was not representative of the broader market.
AFG executive director Kevin Matthews put the decline down to the Queensland floods. Queensland was the state that recorded the biggest fall in AFG’s business – down 48.9 per cent from December. Matthews said another factor in the slump was uncertainty about the direction of the housing market, with buyers spooked by commentators saying Australia has a residential housing market bubble in the making.
In addition, the value of dwellings financed fell five per cent from A$21.4 in December to $20.3 billion in January. Year-on-year, the number of home loans being written each month is down about two per cent. The critical factor was the state of the Queensland market, where extreme weather led to a 16% fall in activity in January 2011.
The big fall was foreshadowed by mortgage aggregator AFG, which reported a 40% fall in activity from December 2010 to January 2011. The ABS raw data shows a fall of about 30% over the period. So extreme was the AFG figure that it looked as though it was not representative of the broader market.
AFG executive director Kevin Matthews put the decline down to the Queensland floods. Queensland was the state that recorded the biggest fall in AFG’s business – down 48.9 per cent from December. Matthews said another factor in the slump was uncertainty about the direction of the housing market, with buyers spooked by commentators saying Australia has a residential housing market bubble in the making.
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