The number of approved home loans in Australia rose by more than twice, compared to economists’ forecast in December, as the country ended a record year for job growth.
According to the statistics bureau, the number of mortgages approved for purchasing building homes climbed 2.1 percent from November, compared to a Bloomberg News survey of 13 economists, which predicted that the average increase for mortgage approvals would be only one percent.
Glenn Stevens, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), held the benchmark rate at 4.75 percent this month, after a quarter percentage-point increase in November.
Home loan demand, which dropped for seven straight months through April 2010, will likely increase, as the central bank forecasted that the economy will accelerate this year.
“The figures continue to suggest a mid-year pick-up in residential construction through mid-2011,” said Michael Turner, an economist at RBC Capital Markets Ltd.
“The resilience of the broader residential sector will encourage the RBA that its November hike ̶ and the additional tightening done by local lenders ̶ has not choked off confidence.”
A report showed that the total value of home loans climbed 2.5 percent to A$21.6 billion (S$27.6 billion) in December. First-time home buyers accounted for 15.8 percent of the total mortgage loans, up from 15.6 percent in November.