Mortgage borrowers took a break in January 12 March 2015 6:05PM John Kavanagh Homebuyers took a holiday in January, with both the value and number of new loans down on December's result.According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics housing finance figures, the value of new housing finance commitments fell by 0.6 per cent in January, compared with the previous month (in seasonally adjusted terms).Lenders made housing finance commitments worth A$30.2 billion in January, which was up 12.8 per cent on January last year.The value of loans to owner-occupiers fell one per cent in January, while the value of loans to property investors fell 0.1 per cent.The number of new finance commitments for owner-occupiers fell 3.5 per cent in January, compared with the previous month.The average loan size was $346,600 - an increase of 7.3 per cent over 12 months.First-home buyers (the ABS measure of FHBs is under review) fell from 14.3 per cent in December to 14.2 per cent in January.