ABS home lending numbers spike but personal loans fall

Australians are rushing to commit to new home loans while interest rates remain at historically low levels, latest figures show.

New home loan commitments are surging. Picture: Lachie Millard

More Australians are seeking to buy a property while interest rates remain at historically low levels, sending new home loan commitments surging.

Monthly figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the value of new loan commitments for housing, including by investors, spiked 12.6 per cent in August, with $21.3 billion of property debt added.

ABS head of finance and wealth Amanda Seneviratne said a 13.6 per cent rise in new owner occupier mortgages was the biggest month-on-month surge the bureau had seen in its history of recording that data, eclipsing the previous record of 10.7 per cent set in July.

“The value of owner occupier home loan commitments was $16.3 billion in August, the highest value in the history of the series,” she said.

Ms Seneviratne noted the COVID-19 crisis had strongly affected month-on-month movements.

“Lenders are reporting to us that current processing times mean that August commitments reflect customer demand in June and early July, prior to Victoria imposing stage three and stage four restrictions,” she said.

The largest increases in new mortgage commitments for owner occupiers were in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.

While financing for home loans is rising off the back of slowing property prices and low interest rates, personal loans continue to fall as Australians seek to pay down outstanding debt while a degree of financial uncertainty lingers during the pandemic-induced recession.

According to the ABS, $1.4 billion of personal debt was added, down 12.5 per cent compared to the prior month.