Aussie home loan approvals up slightly

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The number of approved mortgages in Australia climbed 1.4 percent to 46,953 in November, from a downwardly revised 46,293 in the previous month.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the total value of home loans grew 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis to A$20.344 billion (S$27.04 billion).

Sean Callow, Senior Currency Strategist at Westpac, said since banks already have good information on that month, the data did not come as a surprise.

He added that it is still premature to gauge the market's reaction to the mortgage interest rate cut in November.

“If you were thinking about taking out a new loan on the rate cut you wouldn't do so until the rate actually fell,” he said. “Australian housing finance is very close to expectations.”

Callow noted that the results on the national level were also better.

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