Australia: Green shoots are appearing in housing - ANZ

According to analysts at ANZ, green shoots are appearing in Australian housing finance commitments, with a total increase in loan commitments driven by owner-occupier growth in April.

Key Quotes

“The value of housing finance rose by 0.2% m/m in April, representing the second increase in three months. Y/y growth is weak but improving, at -17.3% y/y (up from the -20.3% y/y trough result in January).”

“The 1.0% m/m growth in owner-occupier finance was an upside surprise to the market, and represents green shoots in the housing sector. This increase was mostly due to upgraders, as first home buyer loans increased just 0.3% m/m. In y/y terms, first home buyer commitments came to just -7.3% y/y, compared to upgrader declines of -15.6% y/y.”

“Weakness in investor demand (-2.2% m/m) maybe unrepresentative of where the market is at, due to a string of public holidays and pre-election sentiment in April.”