Queensland going strong

Queensland has recorded the highest annual growth of Australia’s mainland states for owner-occupier housing finance commitments, Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Curtis Pitt said today.

Mr Pitt said the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics information released today reveals there were 130,464 total finance commitments across the State in the 12 months to January 2017.

“The ABS Housing Finance data show the total number of finance commitments for owner occupied dwellings (trend) in Queensland rose 0.7 per cent in January 2017, to be 3.5 per cent higher over the year,” Mr Pitt said.

“This places Queensland higher than NSW (-3.5%), Victoria (+1.0%), South Australia (-0.3%) and Western Australia (-11.4%) for growth in housing finance commitments over the past year. Total housing finance commitments across Australia fell 1.7 per cent over the year, also well shy of the Queensland figure.”

Mr Pitt said the trend value of housing finance commitments in Queensland totalled $3.56 billion in January 2017.

“Today’s data continues an upward trajectory in the owner-occupier residential market over recent years and it’s another indicator of confidence for property owners to borrow money and banks to continue lending," he said.

Mr Pitt said that first time home buyers now had less than four months to apply for the boosted Queensland First Home Owners’ Grant which could see them receiving $20,000 towards a new home.

More positive signs for the economy are also highlighted by the latest Queensland State Accounts (QSA) data which shows Queensland continues to outperform the rest of Australia.

In real trend terms, Queensland Gross State Product (GSP) rose by 0.5 per cent in the September quarter 2016, substantially stronger than the rest of Australia with only 0.2 per cent.

Mr Pitt said the Government’s economic plan was delivering results but we know we’ve got more work to do to deliver more inclusive growth across regional Queensland.

“A responsible and prudent approach in two State Budgets is delivering the positive trends needed to attract investment, create jobs and build consumer confidence,” he said.

This is consistent with ABS figures released earlier this month which show growth in State Final Demand for the December quarter of 0.5 per cent in trend terms.

“There remains no doubt the overall pace of growth is improving with Queensland still on track to be the fastest growing state economy in 2016-17.”

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