Mortgage figures show housing market decline

Media release

Mortgage figures point to stark reality of housing market decline

4 March 2008 – Figures released by Veda Advantage, New Zealand’s largest credit reporting agency, show the extent to which the brakes have been applied to the housing market in New Zealand.

Veda Advantage has released mortgage enquiry statistics from its database that show a 27% decrease on housing loan applications from 2006 to 2007. Data from January this year points to a 14% decrease on 2007, firm evidence that the economic slowdown is biting hard on the property market. Figures also showed the largest decline in mortgage applications was from the 30-40 age group with a drop of 26%.

Veda Advantage New Zealand Country Director John Roberts says, “27% is a sharp year-on-year drop, and given the cyclical trends we’ve seen from 2000 through to 2008, it’s expected we’ll see a similar drop off in 2008, one which is likely to be exacerbated by the predicted slowdown of the economy. While house prices are dropping, consumer confidence isn’t there to match it. As such, we’ve seen a 14% decrease in the number of mortgage applications in January this year compared with 2007.

ENDS

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