There is talk of confidence returning to the market place, but figures just released show past months not travelling so well
The ANZ Banks survey of job advertisements which was released this week showed a fall for the 13th consecutive month. The result now indicates a reduction across those jobs advertised on the internet and newspapers of 49.9% during the last 12 months.
Results for May suggest that each state and territory except Tasmania and Western Australia recorded a decline during the month. These results were to be expected given that consumer and business confidence remained at very low levels through the month of May.
Housing finance commitments data released this week found that first home buyers as a percentage of all owner occupied finance commitments increased to 28%, the highest on record. The interesting detail to note within the statistics is that in each state and territory the actual number of finance commitments for first home buyers fell, except in Victoria where they recorded an increase of 0.9%.
The greatest fall in first home buyer finance commitments was witnessed in Tasmania where they fell 26.1% in April compared to the previous month. These results lend credence to a number of reports that suggest first home buyer demand may have peaked. In saying this, first home buyer finance commitments have still witnessed an exceptional increase on an annual basis in each state and territory varying between a 50.3% increase in Western Australia and a 123.4% increase in the Australian Capital Territory.
This same data also shows that during April 2009 commitments for investment property accounted for 25.5% of all finance commitments. Although this figure remains low on a historical basis, it represents a marked increase on the March 2009 figures when investor finance accounted for just 24.1% of all commitments.
A great deal of first home buyers are now struggling to get a pre approval on finance let alone getting formal approval. There is such a backlog of loan applications many are going to find that time is going to run out before they get formal approval on their finance and have the opportunity to buy, and thus receive the grant. keep in ming the grant will begint o wind back in October
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RP Data Property Pulse
11/06/09
