Home Loan Activity on the Rise

New seasonally-adjusted figures from RP Data show that home loan activity right across the country is on the rise, with a national increase of 13.1 per cent.

The data showed that New South Wales was responsible for most of this seasonally-adjusted increase in approved home loans, with a rise of 14.3 per cent - followed closely by Western Australia (12.2 per cent) and Queensland (11.8 per cent).

Conversely, the seasonally-adjusted figures showed that South Australia had an 8.9 per cent increase, while Tasmania and Victoria saw increases of 10.9 per cent each.

Experts have suggested that interest rate cuts may be contributing to higher buyer confidence when it comes to real estate in Australia - although Peter Jones, chief economist at Master Builders Australia, suggested earlier this month that further rate reductions will be needed to sustain long-term recovery in the property market.

Mr Jones noted that when it comes to new-build properties, the total number of dwelling approvals across Australia increased by 3.1 per cent in February - although the approval figures for 'other' properties (dwellings and apartments) are still in negative numbers.