The demand for home loans was flat in May against expectations of a fall, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The data showed the number of home loans granted in May held broadly steady in seasonally adjusted terms at 52,092.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected the number of housing finance commitments to fall by 0.5 per cent in the month.
But excluding refinancing commitments, the number of loan approvals declined by 1 per cent in May.
Total housing finance by value fell 0.8 per cent in May, seasonally adjusted, to $27.489 billion.
The value of investment housing loans fell a seasonally adjusted 0.9 per cent to $10.757bn.
The value of loan approvals to owner-occupiers declined by 0.7 per cent to $16.732bn.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the value of loan approvals to first home buyers rose by 18.2 per cent in May. However, a climb of that magnitude is common for May, which is a seasonally strong month for first home buyer activity.
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Official data shows demand for home loans broadly steady against forecasts of a fall.
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