First home owners push housing finance higher
14 January 2009
Statement by Mr. Chris Atkins, Executive Director, Master Builders Tasmania
Today’s ABS housing finance figures for November indicate that aggressive moves by the Reserve Bank to bring interest rates down, as well as the Rudd Government’s first home buyer stimulus package are having their intended effect, according to Master Builders Tasmania, the peak employer body representing the building and construction industry.
Mr Chris Atkins, Executive Director of MBT said, “As the Association predicted in December, the positive effects of falling interest rates combined with the boost in the First Home Owners Grant are starting to show up in the Housing Finance figures. November recorded a 6.5% (seasonally adjusted) gain on housing finance commitments over the previous month, which in turn was up 4.4% on the September figure. I think that the majority of buyers realise that provided they have safe employment prospects there has never been a better time to enter the market. Falling interest rates, excellent government incentives and lower house prices have created the best conditions to buy a property in at least 5 years. ”
Mr. Atkins continued, “First home buyers increased as a percentage of all buyers in November, continuing the trend that started in October when the increased First Home Owners Grant measures were announced. The proportion of First Home Owners in November was 22.2% of all dwellings financed. This extremely high figure compares very favourably with the September figure which showed only 16.9% of all dwellings financed were purchased by first home owners”
• The total number of dwellings financed for owner occupiers, in trend terms, rose by 2.0 per cent in November 2008 from the October figure.
• The average loan size for a Tasmanian loan fell slightly from $181,800 in October 2008 to $180,400 in November 2008, which is still the smallest amount of any State or Territory by at least $27,900.
C. Atkins
Executive Director
For further details contact: Chris Atkins (03) 6234 3810 Mob. 0438 623 438 or
Michael Kerschbaum (03) 6234 3810 Mob. 0438 343 810
