Housing finance commitments for owner-occupied homes in Australia dropped a seasonally-adjusted 3.9 percent in June to A$20.71 billion, surpassing analysts’ forecast of a 2 percent decline, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
A survey conducted by Reuters predicted the number of mortgage loans declining by a seasonally adjusted 2 percent, with estimates ranging from a decline of 3 percent to a rise of 2.4 percent.
Total home loans by value for owner-occupied homes fell 1 percent to $13.39 billion, while value investment housing loans plunged 3.6 percent to $7.32 billion.
Meanwhile, commitments to purchase established homes went down 3.7 percent to its lowest level since October 2000, while commitments to acquire new homes slip 4.5 percent and commitments to build new homes dropped 5 percent.