Mortgage brokers see moderate rise in activity

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Mortgage broker activity may have experienced a slight rise in March, as figures show that home loan approvals increased.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals that the number of loans for constructing or purchasing new homes increased 3.5 per cent during the month.

Analysis from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) suggests that this signals good news at a time when the home building sector is struggling.

"While the 50 basis point rate cut was the correct call, more is needed in terms of further rate cuts and also housing supply reform by the state and federal governments," commented HIA senior economist Andrew Harvey.

He noted that there is opportunity for a "further modest improvement" in new home lending to arise over the next few months.

New South Wales emerged as the strongest performer during the month, as the seasonally-adjusted number of loans for new housing rose by 13.6 per cent.

Additional figures from the ABS show that the total value of dwelling finance commitments declined by 0.2 per cent in March - investment property commitments fell by 0.4 per cent in value.