Loan settlements rebound, and refinances hit record highs

ASX-listed digital property settlements platform Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) has released its Monthly Settlement & Mortgage Insights for January, which revealed new loan sale settlements in NSW were up 16.8 per cent and 24.6 per cent in Victoria, compared with November. 

While Queensland experienced a 2.9 per cent drop on its monthly new loan sale settlements in December 2021, there was an overall increase of almost 12 per cent from the previous year. 

The biggest trends reported were in refinances across the year-on-year, with Western Australia experiencing record gains of almost 100 per cent from 1,491 in December 2020 to 2,981 in 2021.

Similarly, Queensland saw a major increase in refinance at 71 per cent on the previous year, with steady gains in Victoria (35 per cent) and NSW (40 per cent).

New residential loans rose by 35.5 per cent in Victoria in the past year, with Queensland up 23 per cent to 15,859 in December 2021, following a drop late last year.

The increase was comparatively less for NSW that saw residential new loans rise almost 4 per cent to 15,388 in December 2021. 

Sale settlements

PEXA’s research also found that the aggregate value of sale settlements in NSW and Victoria recorded “calendar highs”.

NSW recorded 23,802 settlements in December 2021 (an increase of 17 per cent on the previous month), and worth a record $31.7 billion.

Similarly, Victoria recorded 21,537 settlements in December – a jump of 23 per cent on the previous month worth $20 billion.

While monthly sale settlements dropped in Queensland, Western Australia saw a small rise of 3.7 per cent in December to 8,440 settlements worth $5 billion.

The report revealed the major banks fell in the 12 months in all four states, with non-majors improving their position but still behind the majors. 

[Related: Loan settlements plunge in locked down states]