Home lending rose slightly in August, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The trend figures show that the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose 0.5 per cent.
Investment housing commitments rose 0.8 per cent, while owner-occupier housing commitments rose 0.4 per cent.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions fell 1.2 per cent.
The number of commitments for owner-occupier housing finance also rose 0.6 per cent between July and August 2013, in trend terms. The lift was across all sectors, with loans to buy established homes up by 0.7 per cent, loans to buy new homes rising 0.3 per cent and loans to build new homes up 0.1 per cent.
In original terms, the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments fell to 13.7 per cent in August 2013 from 14.7 per cent in July 2013.
Around the country, the seasonally adjusted number of housing finance commitments (for both new and established owner-occupier housing) increased in NSW (up by 2.3 per cent), Victoria (up 2.2 per cent) and Tasmania (0.1 per cent).
Lending declined by 3.2 per cent in Queensland, 8.6 per cent in South Australia and 1.3 per cent in Western Australia over the same period.