The number of home loans approvals have continued to increase, defying economist expectations for a fall during the month, as record-low interest rates continue to support the housing market.
Home loan approvals rose 1 per cent in April, beating economists' expectations of a 2 per cent fall, as record-low interest rates continued to encourage loan take-up.
There were 53,951 approvals in April, compared to 54,686 approvals in March, according to seasonally-adjusted figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
The value of total housing finance rose 2.9 per cent in the month to $32.71 billion.
The Reserve Bank board cut the official cash rate at its February board meeting to a record low 2.25 per cent in an attempt to stimulate the economy.
The cash rate has since been lowered another 25 basis points to a fresh low of 2 per cent in May, as the RBA assists the economic transition away from the mining boom.
Investor housing loans were up 2.6 per cent in April, after a 6.4 per cent increase between February and March.
The ABS data showed a turnaround in the share of first home buyers entering the housing market, after dipping in the prior month.
The number of commitments by first home buyers as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments rose to 15.2 per cent in April after falling to 14.7 per cent in March from February’s 15.1 per cent.
Since May’s RBA rate cut, a number of lenders have reduced or ended discounts on investor-only mortgages loans, meeting wider market concerns of an overheating investor lending growth in Australia.
Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on the weekend there was no housing bubble in Sydney, despite Treasury Secretary John Fraser telling a Senate hearing last week that Sydney and parts of Melbourne were "unequivocally" in a housing bubble.
According to Corelogic RP Data, Australian home values fell 0.9 per cent in May - the first monthly drop since November 2014 - but had still surged 9 per cent over the past 12 months, and jumped 15 per cent higher in Sydney alone.
"Today we saw pretty sold numbers out of both owner occupiers and investors," JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy said.
"The four month (investor) trend is probably a little bit weaker than last year but it's still too hot for where the RBA and APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) would want it."
Tighter lending guidelines among some banks would probably "start to bite" in the next few months, Mr Kennedy said.
"We do expect these numbers to cool," he said.
Westpac economist Matthew Hassan said February's interest rate cut was probably the main driver of April's stronger than expected lending, with gains in approvals across all states.
"Overall, the April figures indicate housing market activity may have caught a bit of an uplift from the February rate cut," Mr Hassan said.
- With AAP