Mortgage lending up modestly in September

Mortgage lending recorded another modest 0.5% increase in September, according to RBA statistics.

The 0.5% increase follows an increase of 0.4% over August. For the year to September, housing credit is up 5.8%.

The September figure is the ninth consecutive monthly increase of either 0.5% or 0.4%.

In December 2010 housing credit increased by 0.6%. March 2010 was the last time it increased by 0.7%.

Over the month, loans for owner-occupiers increased by 0.5% to be up 6.4% for the last 12 months, while loans for investment purposes increased by 0.4% to be up 4.6% for the same period.

The growth in mortgage lending was in line with total credit provided to the private sector by financial intermediaries, which increased by 0.5% during September 2011, after rising by 0.2% during August.

Other personal credit rose by 0.4% over September, after decreasing by 1.1% over August. Over the year to September, other personal credit decreased by 0.9%.

Business credit rose by 0.4% over September, after rising by 0.1% over August. Over the year to September, business credit increased by 0.2%.