Mild lift in home loan demand

Demand for new home loans may have passed its low point in the present cycle, if the modest rise in home lending in May is any guide.

The number of new home loans to owner-occupiers increased by 1.9 per cent in May 2010, the first rise in eight months, the monthly housing finance series published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.

Loans for construction fell by 2.2 per cent, loans for the purchase of newly built homes increased by 4.7 per cent, while loans for the purchase of established homes (excluding refinancing) increased 1.1 per cent. Refinancing commitments rose by 4.8 per cent, analysis of the ABS data by CommSec shows.  All the data is seasonally adjusted.

First home buyers remain around 16 per cent of home loan customers and down from the peak at 28.5 per cent set in May 2009 and fostered by the temporary boost from the grant to first home owners.

In trend terms housing finance commitments continued to fall, with the value of monthly housing finance, at $21 billion, about 12 per cent below the monthly peak created by the economic stimulus in late 2008 and 2009.