Wednesday 11 November 2026Industry groups and the Opposition link the fall to the budget tax changes, while the government defends them.
Featured image: Photo by Photographic Collection from Australia (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons. Illustrative image of terrace houses in Sydney.
Key facts
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the largest quarterly fall in home loans on record for the September quarter.
- The number of new home loans fell 15.0 per cent and investor loans fell 30.6 per cent.
- The value of new housing loans fell 15.5 per cent, the largest quarterly fall since records began in 2002.
- Lending to owner-occupiers was 9.8 per cent lower than a year earlier, and first home buyer lending 12.3 per cent lower.
- Westpac chief executive Anthony Miller said applications are starting to rise.
The figures
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday showed the largest quarterly fall in home lending on record in the September quarter, with investors the most affected. The number of new home loans fell 15.0 per cent over the quarter and the number of new investor loans fell 30.6 per cent, SBS News reported. The value of new housing loans fell 15.5 per cent, which SBS described as the largest quarterly fall since records began in 2002.
The ABC reported that lending to owner-occupiers was 9.8 per cent lower than a year earlier and lending to first home buyers was 12.3 per cent lower.
Reaction
Shadow housing minister Andrew Bragg blamed the government’s budget tax changes, which cover capital gains tax and negative gearing. Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn said the industry had been right about the impact of the changes and that it would get worse. Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie called on the government to reverse the changes. SBS reported that the government continues to defend the tax changes as necessary to help young people and first home buyers.
Banks’ view
Westpac chief executive Anthony Miller told a parliamentary review of the banks on Thursday that loan applications were starting to lift. He linked the downturn to five interest rate rises and the budget policy changes, and said the bank’s longer-term challenge is housing supply.
What happens next
The sources reviewed do not give the release date of the next lending figures. The Reserve Bank raised the cash rate to 4.85 per cent last week, its highest level since 2008.
More from this day: News Today: 11 November 2026, Australia and World Headlines
