The decline may partly mirror modifications by lenders that sped up the processing of mortgage functions.
“Recent improvements to loan processing times increased the number of loans processed in peak periods this year, relative to prior years,” ABS head of finance statistics Mish Tan stated.
This indicated loans that will beforehand have been authorised in January had been carried out earlier, Commonwealth Bank senior economist Belinda Allen stated.
“We suspect this has altered the lending data between months, with more lending turnover now able to be processed prior to the summer break,” Ms Allen stated. “This appears to have lowered the processing of new lending in January.”
The month-to-month decline additionally hid the expansion coming from the returning cohort of property traders that was extra obvious within the longer-run knowledge, she stated.
“Investors have been the key driver of new lending over the past year,” Ms Allen stated. “Strong growth in rents and prospects for capital growth as home prices continued to rise are likely to have attracted investors into the market.”
New mortgage commitments to property traders fell 2.6 per cent from December to $9.2 billion, however this determine was nonetheless 18.5 per cent up on January a final 12 months.
By distinction, whole owner-occupier new mortgage commitments fell 4.6 per cent month-on-month in January to $15.9 billion, a determine that was solely up 3.4 per cent on the identical month of 2023.
Over the 12 months to January, the $105.2 billion in new mortgage commitments to investor consumers was down 8.1 per cent from the identical interval a 12 months earlier. For proprietor occupiers, the $195.3 billion determine represented a heftier 12.6 per cent year-on-year decline.
“Looking at the state-by-state breakdown reinforces the close ties of investor lending and home prices,” Ms Allen stated.
“The top three states for investor lending over the past year has been Western Australia (up 63.1 per cent), South Australia (up 41.7 per cent) and Queensland (up 22.6 per cent), and these states have also recorded robust home price growth over the same period.”
Loans to first home consumers dropped 6 per cent in January after falling 6.1 per cent in December. The $4.5 billion whole new mortgage commitments to first-time consumers was the weakest since July.
