"Former RBA Governor Glenn Stevens has expressed "discomfort" about Sydney house prices, which have spiked 61% in the last five years".
- Sam Bourgi, Economic Calendar
Australia's housing market showed a rather weak development in August, since home loans decreased while residential lending grew at a much slower rate. According to the statistics bureau, home loans went down for a second consecutive month in August and third time in four. Home loans slipped by a seasonally adjusted 3% in August, following a downwardly revised 4.5% plunge during the previous month that was also the biggest since January. Moreover, a median estimate of economists predicts a decline of 1.3% in August.
The value of loans to investors, in turn, advanced 0.1%. Concerning the expert's opinion, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said ‘'The numbers underscore the uneven conditions in Australia's housing markets, which are weak in terms of finance activity and turnover but firming according to other, more timely, indicators such as auction clearance rates and some price measures."
In the meantime, in original terms, the value of outstanding housing loans in Australia rose to $1.524 trillion in August. The value of loans to owner-occupiers equals $987.054 billion while those to investors now stands at $536.729 billion.
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