MNI BRIEF: Aussie New Home Loans Drop For 11th Month
Australian house lending fell for an 11th consecutive month in December as the Reserve Bank of Australia's aggressive tightening campaign raises borrowing costs and squeezes new loan sizes.
Total house lending ended 2022 with a decline of 4.3% m/m to AUD23.44 billion and is now down 27.7% from its January 2022 peak, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Owner-occupier housing loans fell 4.2% m/m to AUD15.6 billion.
Total refinancing fell 1.5% m/m to AUD19.1 billion. Refinancing is expected to remain elevated this year as a wave of fixed rate mortgages expire and roll over to variable rates. The RBA's head of economic analysis, Marion Kohler, told a Senate committee this week that more than 800,000 loans worth around AUD350 billion would mature this year.
The RBA holds its first meeting of the year on February 7 and is expected to raise rates by a further 25bp to 3.35%.