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%.
