Australia Nov housing finance rises 1.3 pct

Published: 13 Jan 2009 17:46:06 PST

SYDNEY, Jan 14 - Australian financed dwelling commitments for November, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

Australian housing finance, number of dwelling commitments:

(Owner occupied) Nov Oct m/m pct Nov'07

Seasonally adjusted 49,192 48,565 +1.3 65,495

A Reuters poll forecast housing finance to rise 1.0 percent, seasonally adjusted, though estimates ranged from a fall of 5 percent to an increase of 4.0 percent.

The value of owner-occupied housing finance rose 1.4 percent to A$12.46 billion ($8.3 billion). The value of investment housing fixed loans fell 6.1 percent to A$5.03 billion.

The number of approvals for the purchase of new dwellings rose 9.8 percent, while commitments for the purchase of established dwellings rose 1.1 percent. Construction finance fell 0.3 percent.

For details, the Australian Bureau of Statistics Web site is www.abs.gov.au. ($1=A$1.50)