The total value of owner-occupier home loans written in Australia in January 2024 amounted to $13.25 billion. The average size of Australian home loans hit a record peak in December 2023 at $624,387. As of January 2024, the average home loan in Australia was $615,174, showing a 1.5% decline compared to the previous month and a 2.3% increase when compared to the same time last year. For first-time home buyers, the average loan amount drops to $514,309, reflecting a 1.2% decrease compared to the previous month and a 6.1% increase when compared to the same month of the previous year.
The average investor home loan stood at $591,146, marking a 2.0% increase over the month and showing a solid 4.9% increase over the year. Meanwhile, the average refinancing loan amounted to $522,917, signifying a notable 5.0% decrease over the month and a substantial 7.5% increase over the year. Further statistics can be found in the visualisation below.
Over the past decade, the average sizes of home loans in all states have shown significant increases. Tasmania takes the lead with an 98.8% increase, nearly doubling the average home loan size. New South Wales follows closely with an 85.4% increase, while South Australia also witnessed a 81.6% increase in the size of home loans over the same period.
Growing preference for external lenders
In 2019, slightly more than half of refinancers, accounting for 52%, were external refinancers, indicating that they sought new loans from lenders other than their current one. Fast forward to 2023, the landscape has evolved significantly, with nearly three-quarters of all refinancers being external. In January 2024, 60% falling into the category of external refinancers. Demonstrating a growing trend of homeowners exploring new lending options outside their existing lenders, showcasing changing dynamics in the refinancing market.
Home loan commitment distribution
In January 2024, new loan commitments for the purchase of existing dwellings amounted to $11.1 billion, which represents a substantial 84% of the total value of owner-occupier home loans written in Australia for that month. Meanwhile, loans for the construction of dwellings constituted 11% of the total, with an additional 6% allocated for newly erected dwellings.
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Graham Cooke Head of Consumer Research E: graham@finder.com
Graham Cooke is the head of consumer research at Finder. He’s a seasoned analyst and data journalist, who has been covering personal finance, the economy, technology and travel at for eight years.
He had taken part in over 500 live TV interviews and appears regularly on ABC News and Radio, 7 and 9 News, Sunrise, Today, Studio 10 and others.
Graham is also a contributing author at Money Magazine and Yahoo Finance.
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