Rise in housing finance commitments

The number of commitments for owner-occupied housing finance lifted by 1.2% in August to 50,965, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says.

While the figures are the second straight rise for the owner-occupied sector, they are lower than expectations for a 2% rise.

Westpac has described the August report as "lacklustre", saying the level of housing finance to owner-occupiers is down 0.9% from the end of 2010, and 4.6% for new lending.

"More broadly, the housing sector is facing a number of headwinds: interest rates, stretched housing affordability and household's desire to pay down debt. These forces are offsetting the positives of rising household incomes, relatively low unemployment and a shortage of housing stock," the bank says.

And the total value of dwelling finance commitment excluding alterations and additions rose by 1% to $20.848 billion.

The seasonally adjusted series for the value of owner-occupied commitments rose 0.6%, while the value of investment housing commitments seasonally adjusted rose 1.8% in August 2011.

This article originally appeared on SmartCompany.