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Australia's home-loan approvals rose for the first time in five months in December as a 30-year low in unemployment rates buoyed borrowers' confidence.
The number of loans to owner-occupiers to build or buy homes or apartments climbed 0.1 per cent to 61,597 from November, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney yesterday.
There were 300,000 more jobs last year, the largest annual gain since 1989, encouraging home buyers despite interest rate rises. Immigration and a housing shortage have boosted rents and may attract investors, which could drive the housing market and economic growth.
"Housing activity is holding up reasonably well," Joseph Capurso, an economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney said before the report was released.
"Strong population growth and low rental vacancy rates ... will add to growth in the second half of the year."
The Australian dollar and bonds were little changed after the report. Total lending rose 1.9 per cent to A$19.6 billion ($15.3 billion) in December, the report showed.
The value of lending to owner-occupiers rose 1.1 per cent to A$13.9 billion in December. The value of lending to investors who plan to rent or resell homes gained 4 per cent to A$5.7 billion.
The jobless rate was 4.5 per cent in January, the lowest since May 1976.
Annual inflation was 3.3 per cent in the three months to December 31, the third successive quarter it has breached the central bank's target band of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent.
- BLOOMBERG
