First-homers flood oz

The number of new South Australian home loans leapt by 10 per cent in December as first home buyers flooded the property market...

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released today show 4779 loans were taken out in SA in December compared to 4346 in November. However this figure is still lower than the 5423 taken out in December 2007, which agents said was a stand-out year for real estate.

Nationally, first-time home buyers made up 25.4 per cent of home loans granted in December, the highest proportion since December 2001, the height of the last major housing boom.

As part of last year's $10.4 billion economic stimulus package, the Federal Government doubled the first home buyers grant to $14,000 for the purchase of existing homes, and to $21,000 for newly built properties, until June.

Interest rates falling

Interest rates have also been steadily falling since late last year. South Australia's 10 per cent increase represented the third-highest increase in the country, behind the Australian Capital Territory's 31.1 per cent and New South Wales which increased by 10.8 per cent.

Overall, 52,874 owner-occupier home loans were taken out in December, a 6.4 per cent seasonally adjusted increase compared to the previous month. This is the third consecutive monthly increase.

Economists had expected the number of owner-occupier home loans to rise by 3.5 per cent in December. South Australia's average loan size was $214,900, the second-smallest in the nation after Tasmania's $177,300

Source: www.news.com.au