First home buyers take out 13.6% of new mortgages

Nick BendelMay 15, 2017( 2 min read )

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New statistics on first home buyers have painted a mixed picture, as talk of housing affordability continues to dominate the news.

First home buyers were responsible for 13.6 per cent of the owner-occupier mortgages that were taken out in March, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

That was an increase on the February result, which was 13.3 per cent.

However, it was a decline on the result from March 2016, which was 14.2 per cent.

The average loan size for first home buyers in March was $316,300, compared to $308,900 in February and $328,700 in March 2016.

First home buyer commitments

	March 2017	Monthly change	Annual change
Share of owner-occupier housing finance commitments	13.6%	+0.3 points	-0.6 points
Average loan size	$316,300	+2.4%	-3.8%

All buyers

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Meanwhile, buyers of all kinds signed on for $33.2 billion worth of mortgages in March.

Owner-occupiers represented 60.4 per cent of this share, while investors represented 39.6 per cent.

Between March 2016 and March 2017, lenders reduced their lending to owner-occupiers by 2.6 per cent, while they increased their lending to investors by 8.2 per cent.

Value of dwelling commitments (seasonally adjusted)

	March 2017	Monthly change	Annual change
All housing	$33.2 billion	+0.9%	+1.3%
Owner-occupier housing	$20.2 billion	+0.9%	-2.6%
Investor housing	$13.0 billion	+0.8%	+8.2%

Nick Bendel

Property Personal Finance Writer

A property and personal finance writer, Nick Bendel covers property, loans, credit cards, superannuation, and other bank products. Nick has previously written for The Adviser, Mortgage Business, Lifehacker, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, and InvestorDaily, and loves getting elbow-deep in the latest ABS, APRA and RBA data.

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A construction loan is loan taken out for the purpose of building or substantially renovating a residential property. Under this type of loan, the funds are released in stages when certain milestones in the construction process are reached. Once the building is complete, the loan will revert to a standard principal and interest mortgage.

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Will you pay off the amount you borrowed + interest or just the interest for a period?

The first home buyer grant amount will vary depending on what state you’re in and the value of the property that you are purchasing. In general, they start around $10,000 but it is advisable to check your eligibility for the grant as well as how much you are entitled to with your state or territory’s revenue office.

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