First homebuyer surge
Mortgage serviceability has improved to its best level since the late 1990s, so throw in the first home loan deposit scheme and it was no surprise to see first homebuyer numbers at their highest level since June 2009.
Numbers were especially strong for December in New South Wales, and in Victoria (which was playing catch-up after the state's long economic lockdown).
To date the housing market recovery has overwhelmingly been driven by homebuyers, not investors.
There may have been some short-term interruption to borrower confidence in South Australia, but overall activity has increased as expected.
The average loan size increased steadily over 2020, increasing by about $26,000 or 5 per cent.
The value of investor lending has been very muted, but showed early signs of stirring in December 2020, increasing by about 8 per cent.
CoreLogic reported housing prices increasing steadily by +0.9 per cent in January, following on from these solid lending figures, with Perth and Brisbane leading the monthly gains.
Overall, there were not too many surprises here as low mortgage rates flow through to homebuyer confidence, with investors likely to follow suit as 2021 rolls on.
---
