Demand for home loans falls in August
INVESTORS continued to elbow first-home buyers out of the property market in August, with the share of first time buyers taking out new home loans falling to its lowest level in almost 10 years.
The number of housing loans fell almost 4 per cent to 49,900 from July to August, ending six straight months of rises, while the share of first-home buyers shrank from 14.7 per cent to 13.7 per, the lowest level since April 2004.
Demand for home loans had been rising steadily from 44,000 a month last year to almost 52,000 in July, underpinned by low official and mortgage interest rates.
Despite the fall in demand for loans, house prices in capital cities, especially Sydney and Melbourne, have been rising at double-digit annual rates in recent months and auction clearance rates have remained elevated, suggesting cashed-up investors are providing a growing share of demand for housing.
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