That equates to $29.2 billion in seasonally-adjusted terms - for new loans, excluding refinances.
Investors led the pack, with new loans up by 2.7% to $11 billion - aside from last month in original terms, this was the strongest result since May 2022 at the onset of RBA rate rises.
Through the 2024 financial year, the value of new investor loans has risen 30.2% - far outpacing that of owner occupiers, up 13.2%.
It was strongest in Western Australia, up by 56.7% compared to a year ago, correlating with Perth posting the strongest price gains over the past 12 months.
In terms of average loan sizes, investors borrowed a touch over $639,000 in June, compared to $637,000 for owner occupiers.
For the latter, this is a new record.
In terms of credit growth - released by the RBA earlier in the week - the level of housing debt in the system grew a further 0.43% in June, and 5.26% over the financial year.
Growing expectation of rate cuts and RBA inaction since November 2023 has fuelled further housing debt growth.
"Credit growth should gradually regain traction from here, particularly as policy settings become less restrictive heading into 2025," said Matthew Hassan, Westpac's head of Australian macro-forecasting.
CoreLogic's home value index for July pointed to new record home prices for Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney with the 18th consecutive month of price growth to the overall index.
Australia has been prioritising 'betting on the house' above all else, with household spending in real terms some of the weakest on record.
The ABS' indicator, released on Friday as well, showed a fall of 0.5% in June, following 0.8% and 1% falls in April and May respectively.
This is despite a generally elevated time for spending due to end of financial year sales and tax time write-offs.
InfoChoice's State of Aussies' Savings report, released in July, shows consumers are increasingly cutting back on essential items such as groceries, electricity, and health.
This is generally corroborated by ABS spending data, showing an elevated pullback in services spending through June.
According to the survey of 1,092 Aussies, 34% had housing debt. Levels of debt were most pronounced in NSW, with more than a quarter having $500,000 or more - more than 10 percentage points higher than the incidence of the national average.
Australia is currently in the midst of the longest drop in real per capita retail sales (ex-groceries) since records began 40 years ago.
— Tarric Brooker aka Avid Commentator 🇦🇺 (@AvidCommentator) August 1, 2024
The 90s recession drop is still the largest by magnitude, but the trend is not the retail sectors friend. pic.twitter.com/rZO8dYjgIR
Build it and they will come
Supply has been the prevailing issue leading to price gains, with only Hobart and Melbourne seeing listing numbers above average historical levels.
AMP's chief economist Dr Shane Oliver said supply shortages have the "upper hand" over high interest rates.
"The surge in population growth to 650,000 in 2023 driven by record immigration levels meant that an extra 250,000 new homes should have been built but instead completions have been running around 170,000 per annum as home builders struggle with rising costs and material and labour shortages, and higher mortgage rates depress new home sales," he said.
The current lacklustre building approvals data pokes holes in the government's ambition of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029.
Dr Oliver notes a rundown in savings buffers and first home buyers' access to "the bank of mum and dad" has also cushioned rational effects of interest rate rises.
That said, the construction tide could be turning, with an uplift in activity through the first half of 2024, according to the Housing Industry Association.
The ABS' Producer Price Index rose 1.1% through the 2024 financial year, half the pre-pandemic rate.
HIA economist Maurice Tapang attributes this to stablising interest rates and market confidence.
Photo by Niko on Unsplash
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