Number and value of loans decline further December: ABS

The value of lending commitments to households, as well as the number of home loans approved, fell in December 2018, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The fall in the value lending to households in December (4.4 percent), follows a 2.4 percent fall in November 2018. 

The number of home loan approvals also saw a hit, falling a seasonally adjusted 6.1 percent in December from November.

Economists had expected a two percent fall in lending over the month.

The number of loans to owner occupier first home buyers is now down 12.6 percent from December 2017.

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Bruce Hockman, ABS chief economist, said large falls in the value of lending for owner occupier dwellings and investment dwellings drove the fall in lending commitments.

Owner occupier dwellings decline 6.4 per cent and investment dwellings were down 4.6 per cent.

"The slowdown in lending for investor dwellings this month continues the steady decline over the past two years, with the value of new investor loan commitments down around 40 percent from the peak at the start of 2017.

"The slowdown in lending for owner occupier dwellings is more recent, with falls concentrated in the last half of 2018", he said.