The total value of new housing loans rose 3.9 per cent in July to $30.6 billion, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The value of new investor loans rose 5.4 per cent to $11.7 billion, which was 35.4 per cent higher than July 2023. The value of owner-occupier loans rose 2.9 per cent to $18.9 billion, 21.4 per cent higher than July 2023.
The value of new owner-occupier first home buyer loans rose 0.8 per cent in July, which was 19.7 per cent higher than July 2023.
Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, said: “Investors have continued to see the largest growth in new loans over the past year, increasing more than a third in value since July 2023, from $8.6 billion to $11.7 billion. This is close to the record high of $11.8 billion reached in January 2022.”
“The increased investor activity we’re seeing in the lending statistics is mostly because more loans are being approved, and is only partly driven by higher dwelling prices”, Dr Tan said.
Nationally, the average size of new owner-occupier loans and new investor loans reached the same all-time high of $641,000 in July.
