The total value of new loan commitments for housing and the value of owner occupier home loan commitments each reached record highs in October 2020. The total value of new loan commitments for housing rose 0.7 per cent to $22.7 billion in October, seasonally adjusted.

Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF) forecasts published today outline that COVID-19 and the measures that have been taken to control its spread, have sent the message to hold or defer many new building projects. The ACIF Forecasts highlight that work done will fall again this year, decreasing 3.2 per cent over 2020-21.

Each quarter, CommSec attempts to find out how are Australia’s states and territories performing. They do this by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth; retail spending; equipment investment; unemployment; construction work done; population growth; housing finance and dwelling commencements. Just as the Reserve Bank uses long-term averages to determine the level of “normal” interest rates; CommSec have done the same with the economic indicators.