QUEENSLAND has become a hot spot of investor activity, recording a 6.8 per cent surge in new lending for housing investments in July.
While investor lending has been more hit and miss in the other states, Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealed a 31 per cent lift in the value of investor lending in Queensland since February.
The state’s capital city also reported the strongest monthly growth in property values of all the major urban centres in August, according to new data from CoreLogic.
Looking nationally, the fresh ABS lending indicator data revealed a 1.2 per cent fall for new loan commitments in the broader housing category.
Housing-related lending is now 14.1 per cent lower than a year ago.
Owner-occupier lending sank 1.9 per cent, and new investor loans largely held firm.
Data on housing prices was also released on Friday, with the CoreLogic index revealing a further 0.8 per cent increase in August.
The result was bolstered by a 1.5 per cent lift for Brisbane and robust 1.1 per cent increases in the Sydney and Adelaide markets.
Lower than average advertised supply levels have put upwards pressure on home values across most capital cities, while flatlining interest rates are boosting buyer confidence.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the trends across different regions were mixed.
“Sydney has led the recovery trend to-date with a gain of 8.8 per cent since values found a floor in January this year,” he said.
“Brisbane has also posted a strong recovery with values up 6.2 per cent since bottoming out in February.
“At the other end of the scale, some other capital cities are better described as flat, with Hobart home values unchanged since stabilising in April, while values across the ACT have risen only mildly, up one per cent since a trough in April.”
Oxford Economics Australia economist Maree Kilroy said there were risks hanging over the housing market rebound, including the expiry of thousands more fixed-rate mortgages.
“We expect a lift in pressured sales through this financial year as the wave of fixed-rate mortgages continues to roll over, although the magnitude of this uplift remains uncertain,” she said.
Ms Kilroy said mild corrections were possible for some cities from the end of 2023, noting that listings were starting to creep up in Sydney and Melbourne.
-AAP
