First Home Buyers In A Mad Rush

A number of institutions I speak with have reported very strong loan growth at the moment, particularly with the first home buyers. This could explain the interest in funds being shown by institutions such as Bankwest.

This sentiment has been borne out in home loan figures released showing a 5.1% jump in September after an upwardly revised increase of 4% in August. Analysts had predicted a 3% rise. First-home owners made up 26.1 per cent of the total, up from 24.7 per cent.

These figures reflect the last month for the full first home buyer bonus but the scaled down bonus is in effect until the end of the year. The RBA will be keenly observing what happen in the new year - perhaps good justification for a pause after December.

Established house approvals also rose substantially, by 5 per cent showing broader strength in housing demand.