The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has released data on housing transfers and mortgage lodgements for the month of May.
According to DERM, the number of housing transfers rose by 8.1% in May, whereas the number of mortgage lodgements increased by 8.0% over the month (see next chart).
On a year-on-year basis, transfers rose by 9.2% in May, whereas mortgage transfers increased by 7.0% (see next chart).
You can see that Queensland transfers and mortgage lodgements had been in an up-trend since late-2011, but have stalled somewhat since late-2012. They also remain depressed overall, still tracking -27% (transfers) and -28% (mortgages) respectively below the 13-year average in the year to May 2013.
While the evidence is by no means clear-cut, the slowing growth in activity since late-2012 could suggest that the mid-October change to the First Home Buyers’ Grant, which saw the Grant removed from pre-existing dwellings and shifted to new dwellings only, could be suppressing overall mortgage demand and the volume of transactions, slowing the nascent housing recovery.
