Little growth in credit demand

One indicator of demand for consumer credit is showing a slight, favourable shift, though demand remains lacklustre.

Veda Advantage said that the number of inquiries for consumer credit recorded through its credit bureau increased by 0.1 per cent over the year to June 2012. This is up from a decline of 4.5 per cent in the year to March 2012.

One bright spot was the rise in the demand for car loans, which increased 16 per cent over a year (and is in line with record sales of new cars).

Over the last year demand for credit cards was down 1.2 per cent, demand for home loans was up 0.7 per cent and demand for personal loans was up 1.4 per cent.

While not seasonally adjusted the quarterly data published by Veda shows that demand for credit cards fell 2.4 per cent over the June 2012 quarter. Demand for home loans increased 4.8 per cent over the quarter.