Australian Housing finance for March is due from the Australian Bureau of Statistics today at 11.30am local time (Sydney) which is 0130GMT

  • Home loans expected flat at 0.0% m/m, prior -0.5%
  • Investment lending prior -5.9%
  • And loans for owner occupiers, prior -0.5%

There were new macro-prudential measures announced on March 31, bit they won't impact much on the numbers today:

  • Australia - (APRA) Regulator new measures on mortgage lending
  • Australia - Regulator comments on macroprudential changes

What to watch from a couple of the Australian banks:

ANZ:

  • ANZ forecast the number of housing finance commitments rose slightly in March
  • Housing indicators, including price growth, auction results and credit growth remain positive, and suggest that new finance approvals will remain elevated, despite mortgage rate increases in the second half of the month

WPAC:

  • The Feb housing finance report recorded a 0.5% dip in the number of owner occupier approvals and a sharp 5.9% pullback in the total value of investor lending.
  • Note that the latter predates the recent tightening in 'macro-prudential' regulation and suggests lenders were already moving to ensure growth in total investor credit - i.e. the stock of loans- stayed below the existing 10%yr guideline.
  • Industry data points to a steady result for owner occupier finance approvals in March. The value of investor loans will again be of close interest although the most recent macroprudential measures (10% guide should be met 'comfortably', 'interest only' loans capped) only come into play from April on.