Australia’s Home Loans Rise for Record Ninth Month (Update2)
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(Bloomberg) -- Australian home-loan approvals rose in June for a record ninth month as borrowing costs at a half- century low and government cash handouts stoked demand among first-time buyers.
The number of loans granted to build or buy houses and apartments climbed 1.1 percent to 65,151 from May, when they gained 2.2 percent, the statistics bureau said in Sydney today. The median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 1.8 percent gain.
Government grants to first-time buyers of as much as A$21,000 ($17,600) have triggered the longest run of gains in home loans since the figures were first published in 1975 and driven up property prices. Central bank Governor Glenn Stevens left the benchmark interest rate at 3 percent last week for a fourth month and signaled his next move may be an increase.
“There’s no reason why we should see home lending moderate,” said Adam Carr, a senior economist at ICAP Australia Ltd. in Sydney. “The demand side is very strong. We’ve got a housing shortage, we’ve got the highest proportion of young adults living at home citing lack of affordable housing, and you’ve got record-low interest rates.
