The ABS released their data for April. The total value of owner occupied housing commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 1.3% in trend terms whilst the value of total personal finance commitments rose 0.5%.
Total commercial finance commitments rose 2.4%. Fixed lending commitments rose 3.4%, while revolving credit commitments fell 0.4%. The trend series for the value of total lease finance commitments rose 1.6% in April 2015.
We continue to see strong investment lending with more than half of residential loans in April going to investors.
The proportion of commercial lending aligned to investment property rose and this explains much of the rise in commercial lending overall. Investment property lending is relatively unproductive, and makes little contribution to economic growth.
