Home Loans On The Rise

CANBERRA: Signs of improvement in the housing industry emerged yesterday with Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing a 12 per cent jump in home loans from April to May.

Total lending in May was $1.689 billion, compared with $1.508 billion in April, but still well down on the $1.814 billion lent in May last year.

The bureau warned that the rise could not be considered significant because of recent volatility in the housing market.

The rise was attributed in part to the easing by half to 1 per cent in floating mortgage rates by most major lenders, who had been charging a record 17 per cent for almost a year, and by the increasing take-up of fixed rate loans.

The executive director of the Housing Industry Association, Mr Ron Silberberg, said yesterday's figures showed the "resilience" in the industry.