The number of housing finance commitments continued to improve in December, rising 8.7% over the quarter according to the seasonally adjusted series from the ABS released this week. The adjusted figures for December were the highest since March 2010; a strong sign that a degree of health is returning to the housing market; at least at a national level. Looking at the state by state data provides a clearer understanding of where most of the activity is occurring. New housing finance commitments were up a stunning 19.6% in New South Wales and 13.9% in Western Australia. The Northern Territory also showed a strong improvement with total commitments up 20.6%, however the series is much more volatile than in the larger states. Looking specifically at New South Wales, where housing finance commitments comprise just under one third of all commitments nationally (32.9%); up from just 26.9% two years ago. The very large majority of new commitments are related to established dwellings (90.4%) compared with just 5.5% for the construction of new dwellings and 4.1% for the purchase of new dwellings
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New mortgage commitments setting the scene for improved buying activity
