Home loan approvals show growth

Home loan approvals show growthHome loan approvals increased in April as the residential housing market continued to improve, but at a slower rate than in the second half of last year.According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures, the trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments, excluding alterations and additions, rose 0.4 per cent to $27.72 billion in April. The total value of dwelling commitments rose 1.7 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.Commitments for owner-occupied housing rose 0.4 per cent and commitments for investment housing rose 0.5 per cent (1.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms, respectively).The data suggests that the housing market is still strengthening, even if growth has slowed since the beginning of the year relative to the six months prior. Dwelling finance has increased more than 20 per cent since April last year, with buyer confidence boosted by the Reserve Bank’s decision to keep interest rates on hold for nine straight months.In terms of the number of dwelling commitments made in April, commitments for owner-occupied housing finance rose 0.1 per cent in trend estimate terms to 52,081. The number of commitments for the construction of dwellings rose 1.1 per cent and the number of commitments for the purchase of established dwellings rose 0.1 per cent while the number of commitments for the purchase of new dwellings fell 1.3 per cent.The ABS figures can be found here