New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows first home buyers' share of the home loan market continues to shrink, as debate rages over whether they should be able to tap into superannuation to help fund purchases.
According to the ABS, the number of home loans granted in January fell 3.5 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms to 51,396.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the number of housing finance commitments to fall by 2 per cent in the month.
The latest monthly home loan figures show first home buyers’ share of new loans issued in January fell to 14.2 per cent in January from 14.3 per cent in December.
Total housing finance by value fell 0.6 per cent in the month, seasonally adjusted, to $30.244bn.
The value of investor lending slipped 0.1 per cent in the month to $12.531bn.
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The federal government has said it is considering allowing people to tap their super to help buy a home.
Former treasurer Peter Costello and the head of the Abbott government's financial system inquiry, David Murray, have both delivered a strong rebuke to the government's suggestion.
"To divert money into housing at any stage during the build-up in superannuation savings is not consistent with having a good retirement income system," Mr Murray said.
January's dip followed a resurgence in investor loans in December, as investors rushed into the market amid talk from regulators of a crackdown on investor lending.
But February's interest rate cut is expected to have sparked another flurry of activity in the housing market, particularly in Sydney, CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said.
"This is just the calm before the storm," Mr Sebastian said.
"The flow of credit to the housing sector would only have strengthened subsequent to that rate cut."
JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman said that while loans to owner occupiers had been pulling back for the past year, investor lending had not slowed down as much as the Reserve Bank would have liked.
The ongoing strength of investor lending would tie the RBA's hands when it came to further rate cuts, he said.
"It needs to come down further if the RBA are going to be comfortable - it makes life very difficult for the RBA," Mr Jarman said.
"There does seem to have been a rebound following the rate cut and we feel like the story is still going to be one where investor activity does better than owner-occupier activity."
-- with AAP