Data is here: Australia September data: Home loans -2.3% m/m (vs. expected 2.0%)
This via Westpac's take on the data:
- well below expectations
- owner occupiers ... investor loan approvals ... In both cases, approvals were coming off surprisingly strong gains in August
- both owner occupier and investor finance approvals have been holding up much better than wider market measures in 2017 - the slowdown in Australia's housing market has been more muted in the finance data.
This largely reflects the nature of the macro-prudential measures introduced in late March which had a heavier impact on investor segments and would have generated significant 'switching' between 'interest only' and 'principal and interest loan products'
And:
- detail showed a broad based pull back with weakness in construction related approvals
- Overall, the update brings the finance approval data more into line with the clear slowing signal already evident from turnover, auction markets and prices
As I update AUD is clawing back some of its early small loss, following the China inflation data - stronger PPI should be supportive of the AUD
