ACT still the top spot for housing finance

CommSec’s State of the States report has found that the ACT was able to maintain its position as the top spot for housing finance.

The value of housing finance in the ACT was up 61.5% from the decade average in August 2022.

Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and Queensland also reported stronger gains compared to decade average, with respective growths of 44.8%, 42.3%, and 37.5%.

“In all of the eight states and territories, housing finance commitments are well above decade averages, the same result as in the previous quarterly report,” the report said.

However, only three markets were able to report yearly gain in housing finance.

On an annual comparison, Tasmanian loans were up 10.1%, followed by the ACT (up 5.5%), and the Northern Territory (up 3.5%).

On the other hand, home loans in Western Australia were 5.3% lower than a year ago, behind South Australia (down 7.3%), Queensland (down 9.9%); Victoria (down 14.8%), and NSW (down 24.3%).

State of the States - Housing finance – October 2022
State	Value ($)	Versus decade average (%)
Tasmania	300m	44.8
Queensland	3.58bn	37.5
ACT	531m	61.5
Western Australia	1.88bn	24.8
South Australia	1.03bn	28.8
Victoria	5.51bn	37.2
New South Wales	5.6bn	24.3
Northern Territory	128m	42.3

Meanwhile, the ACT was also the top spot for dwelling commencements.

Data from the June quarter showed that starts in the ACT were 49.9% above the decade average. This helped the ACT overtake South Australia, which is now at the second spot.

On a yearly basis, the ACT was the only market to report growth in dwelling commencements, up 21.4%. The rest of the states and territories struck a loss, with the Northern Territory reporting the biggest slump at 49.5%.

The CommSec report placed the ACT in the third spot for overall economic performance, as Tasmania reclaims the top spot after falling for the first time in nine years in the previous quarter.

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Photo by Tourism Australia on Canva.