Monthly lending finance for personal, commercial, housing and lease finance commitments have been published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The numbers cover the month of May, in comparison with April. Highlights from the ABS are: Housing finance for owner occupiers: The total value of owner occupied housing commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 0.4 per cent in trend terms, and the seasonally adjusted series rose 2.9 per cent. Personal finance: The trend series for the value of total personal finance commitments fell 3.2 per cent. Fixed lending commitments fell 3.2 per cent and revolving credit commitments fell 3.1 per cent. The seasonally adjusted series for the value of total personal finance commitments fell 0.5 per cent. Revolving credit commitments fell 3.1 per cent, while fixed lending commitments rose 1.2 per cent. Commercial finance: The trend series for the value of total commercial finance commitments fell 0.8 per cent. Fixed lending commitments fell 0.9 per cent and revolving credit commitments fell 0.3 per cent. The seasonally adjusted series for the value of total commercial finance commitments fell 6.4 per cent. Revolving credit commitments fell 12.5 per cent and fixed lending commitments fell 4.9 per cent. Lease finance: The trend series for the value of total lease finance commitments fell 3.3 per cent in May 2017 while the seasonally adjusted series rose 1.1 per cent, following a rise of 4.3 per cent in April 2017.Overall, total new lending commitments (housing, personal, commercial and lease finance) fell by 3.1 per cent in May to a three month low. Commitments are down 0.5 per cent over the year. Craig James, chief economist at CommSec, in a note to investors, said: "New data shows that renovation loans hit seven-year highs in trend terms in May, suggesting that more people have decided to stay put and add extra rooms or revamp kitchens and bathrooms."While some have been taking out bigger loans to buy homes, it is clear that consumers more generally are paring back other forms of debt. Figures out yesterday show that credit card debt continues to shrink when compared with a year ago and non-housing loan commitments are at the lowest levels for over 14 years. "High and rising debt tends to get plenty of coverage, not so the more conservative attitude to debt which is actually the more dominating trend," he said. James asserted that if consumer balance sheets were in such bad shape, more Aussies would be speaking to banks about consolidating or refinancing existing debt, and the stats do not support that assessment. "Rather, debt consolidation and refinancing accounts for just 20 per cent of personal lending commitments - a 16-and-a-half-year low," he said.