Australian Housing Finance Unchanged In January (12 Mar 2014) The number of Australian home-loan approvals was unchanged in January, while property investment cooled after a recent burst of activity. The value of loans for investment housing fell 3.3% in January from a month earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday. Housing has emerged as one of the few areas of strength in the economy as a long resources boom cools. The central bank has cut rates eight times since late 2011 in a bid to spur activity in areas like retail and housing that have led previous expansions. But at the same time, policy makers are worried about the housing sector overheating, leading to risky investment that could derail a fragile economic recovery. The latest cut last August took the cash rate to a record-low 2.5%. Policymakers are hoping that a more recent pickup in home building approvals will spur activity in the struggling construction industry and help contain rising house prices by boosting supply. New building approvals jumped by almost 7% in January from December, and about 35% from the same period a year earlier. Wednesdays data showed finance approvals to build new houses rose 5.8% in January from December. Approvals to buy new homes fell 1.0%, while lending for already built houses fell 0.7% in the month. Powered by Commodity Insights
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 04:20:59 +0000
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