Decreases In The Number Of Home Loans

he number of home loans is down on the previous year in all but two of the states and territories, according to the latest State of the States report from CommSec.
The Northern Territory and New South Wales came in the weakest, both showing loan commitments 14.8% down as compared to last year.
The only two regions to show an increase were Tasmania, up 3.9%, and South Australia, up by 0.1%.
The survey also measured the quantity of home loans against the decade average in each state and territory.
With this parameter, the ACT topped the list with the number of commitments up 17% on the long-term average. Tasmania was not far behind, its home loans up by 16.4%.
Victoria and South Australia were both also up on the average, 5.0% and 1.1% respectively. 
The Northern Territory yielded the weakest result, home loan commitments 32.1% lower than the long-term average.  
Western Australia was down 24.5%, Queensland down 7.4%, and New South Wales down 4.9%.
According to the report, “Housing finance is not just a leading indicator for real estate activity and housing construction, but it is also a useful indicator of activity in the financial sector.”
While values have changed, the ranking remains the same from the previous quarter.