The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics housing finance charts for February 2018 show that, compared to January 2018, the total value of dwelling finance commitments, excluding alterations and additions, rose by 0.2 per cent. CommSec senior economist, Ryan Felsman, called this a "rebalancing", and noted it was continuing, although elevated mortgage debt remained a concern. ABS records show that owner occupied housing commitments rose 0.4 per cent while investment housing commitments fell 0.2 per cent. In trend terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance fell 0.6 per cent in February 2018 - in other words, fewer loans for larger amounts.Residential construction activity remains a support for the market, but dwelling investment and financing for loans is weakening, noted Commsec: "Loans by owner-occupiers for the construction of homes slid to seven-year lows."The ABS commented that, "in trend terms, the number of commitments for the purchase of new dwellings fell 1.0 per cent, the number of commitments for the purchase of established dwellings fell 0.6 per cent and the number of commitments for the construction of dwellings fell 0.1 per cent."The effects of the APRA-inspired slowdown were picked up by Tim Reardon, the Housing Association of Australia's principal economist. He noted that the ABS housing finance figures for February 2018 included estimates of investor lending: "The decline in investor activity has been partially offset by a rise in first home buyer participation. The value of first home buyer loans has increased by $1.4 billion to $8.8 billion in the three months to February 2018," Reardon wrote."Unfortunately, the value of loans to investors dwarfed the rise in first home buyer loans which fell by $3.7 billion over the three months to February this year."