New mortgage values up almost 25% YOY

The Lending Indicators data for April 2024 has revealed a year-on-year increase in the total value of new loan commitments of 24.6 per cent, up from 17.9 per cent (March 2023 to March 2024), according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This has shown an increase to $29.4 billion, up from $23.5 billion from April 2023 to April 2024 (seasonally adjusted).

Month on month, the total value of new loan commitments rose by 4.8 per cent, up from $27.4 billion.

The value of new loan commitments for owner-occupiers grew by 4.3 per cent to $18.5 billion, up from $17.4 billion the previous month, with yearly growth of 18.7 per cent (up from $15.5 billion).

Meanwhile, investor lending showed strong year-on-year growth, up by 36.1 per cent on April 2023 reaching $10.9 billion from $7.9 billion, with month-on-month growth of 5.6 per cent.

ABS head of finance statistics Mish Tan said: “Lending to investors continued to rise strongly relative to owner-occupiers, driven by increasing loan sizes.

“This likely reflects expectations of higher rental yields and the greater borrowing capacity of investors.”

Looking at the states, the seasonally adjusted growth in the value of new loan commitments (monthly) for owner-occupiers was led by NSW at 9.9 per cent, followed by ACT (8.5 per cent), Western Australia (7 per cent), Victoria (3.8 per cent), South Australia (3.3 per cent), Queensland (2.8 per cent), and the Northern Territory at 2.7 per cent.

Tasmania was the only state to record a decline in this category of 16.5 per cent from March 2024.

Meanwhile, investor loans during April 2024 recorded value increases in all states, led by Tasmania at 12.5 per cent, followed by NSW and South Australia tied at 8.9 per cent, Western Australia (8.2 per cent), Victoria (6.9 per cent), ACT (5.7 per cent) and the NT (4.5 per cent).

According to the ABS, the value of investor loans (year on year) was the strongest in NSW and Queensland, which increased by 43.9 per cent and 46.4 per cent, respectively.

The number of new loan commitments for owner-occupier first home buyers also increased during April, up by 3 per cent to 10,273 following the 5.1 per cent rise in March.

The ABS further revealed a slight recovery in the value of external refinancing, which rose 1.7 per cent for total housing to $16.3 billion after a fall of 2.5 per cent in March; however, it was 16.3 per cent lower compared to the same period last year.

This was largely driven by a strong lift in external refinancing for investor loans, which rose by 5.5 per cent to $6.1 billion, while owner-occupier housing fell 0.4 per cent to $10.2 billion.

Indeed, PEXA’s latest Mortgage Insights Report for the March quarter of 2024 found that a total of 81,614 refinances were completed during the quarter, marking a “considerable slowdown” from the September 2023 quarter peak.

Refinancing activity declined by 16.4 per cent from December 2023 to March 2024, with an annual drop of 23.4 per cent.

[RELATED: New loan volumes down 17%: Report]

Adrian Suljanovic is a journalist at Broker Daily with more than two years experience reporting on all facets of the third party distribution channel.

Adrian has written for a range of business and finance titles including IFA, Investor Daily and Lawyer’s Weekly before joining the mortgages team in 2022.

He graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2021 gaining a Bachelor of Communication & Media with a major in Digital & Social Media.

E-mail Adrian at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.