First home buyers

(article from ABS)

In July 2020:

• the number of owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments increased 14.4% in seasonally adjusted terms
• the number of first home buyer loan commitments for investment purposes accounted for 4.9% of all first home buyer commitments, in original terms
• owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments accounted for 32.5% of all owner occupier commitments (excluding refinancing), in original terms

Previously, the ABS published a first home buyer ratio which was the ratio of owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments to all owner occupier loan commitments. The table below presents two owner occupier first home buyer ratios.

• The first ratio is the ratio of first home buyer loan commitments to total dwelling commitments (excluding refinancing). This is similar to the ratio published prior to October 2019. Loan commitments for dwellings is the sum of loan commitments for construction of dwellings, newly erected dwellings and existing dwellings.
• The second ratio is a new ratio, the ratio of first home buyer loan commitments to total housing loan commitments (excluding refinancing). This ratio uses the new key statistic, total housing loan commitments. Total housing loan commitments is the sum of loan commitments for dwellings and loan commitments for purchases of residential land and alterations and additions.

First home buyer ratios should be used with caution because the direction of movements in the ratio are often not indicative of the direction of movement in the number of first home buyers. First home buyer ratios are no longer routinely published by the ABS in the time series spreadsheets.

The table below does not include first home buyer loan commitments for investors. Information about the number of loan commitments for investors is new and is separately presented in a graph below.

New commitments for owner occupier first home buyers rose in proportion to the overall rise in owner occupier commitments for dwellings
New loan commitments to owner occupier first home buyers (seasonally adjusted), number, Australia

All states and territories displayed rises in new lending for owner occupier first home buyers
New loan commitments to owner occupier first home buyers (seasonally adjusted), number, by state

Ratio of owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments to total owner occupier housing loan commitments (excluding refinancing)
July 2020, number, original terms

Owner occupier and investor first home buyer loan commitments
July 2020, number, original terms

Once you’ve saved your deposit and decided where to buy, you’ll need to apply for a home loan. The home loan process can be complicated, which is why we operate Total Finance and Mortgage – to take the hassle out of applying for a home loan.