Residential property investors went on holiday in January, triggering a fall in housing finance commitments for the start of the year.Australian Bureau of Statistics housing finance data showed the value of housing finance commitments fell 0.4 per cent in January (in seasonally adjusted terms) from December, having risen 0.2 per cent in December and 1.7 per cent in November.Lenders provided a total of A$26.8 billion of housing loans in January.The value of loans to owner-occupiers rose 1.5 per cent in January, while the value of investor loans fell 3.3 per cent.The number of owner-occupier housing finance commitments in January was unchanged from the previous month.The average loan size rose from $322,400 in December to $322,900 in January. Average loan size increased by 5.3 per cent over the 12 months to January.First-home buyer participation rose from 12.7 per cent in December to 13.2 per cent in January (ABS data on first-home buyers is under review).Commonwealth Bank economist Gareth Aird said in a note the pullback in the value of loans to investors was not surprising after a huge lift in investor finance over the last year.