Australian Housing Finance Rises in June

The number of Australian home-loan approvals rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in June from May, the Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.

It was the second straight month of increases, following sharp declines earlier in the year. Economists surveyed ahead of the announcement had expected 1.5% growth for the month.

The value of loans for investment housing rose by 1.6% from May, the ABS said.

Finance approvals to build new houses rose by 3.6% in June from May. Approvals to buy newly built dwellings increased by 3.5%, while lending for the purchase of established homes fell by 0.1% in the month.

Regulatory efforts to stymie riskier mortgage lending to investors are starting to have some impact on slowing growth in finance.

The clamps on lenders are expected to remain in place for some time, with the Reserve Bank of Australia signaling it is not yet in a position to raise interest rates from record-low levels, citing low inflation readings and an elevated Australian dollar as risks to the economy.

Still, there has been some success in cooling house price growth.

-Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 08, 2017 21:47 ET (01:47 GMT)