Owner-occupier housing credit, Australia

Owner-occupier housing credit is the amount owed on home loans taken out by Australians to buy or build the home they live in, from the Reserve Bank of Australia's table D2 (series DLCACOHS). It is seasonally adjusted and includes securitized loans.

It is the larger of the two parts of Australian housing credit and the core of the major banks' lending. Owner-occupier borrowers generally pay lower interest rates than investors and are treated as lower risk, because they are less likely to default on the home they live in. Growth in this series follows first-home buyer activity, government purchase schemes and the cash rate.

The main pitfall is a break in the classification. After supervisors limited investor lending growth from late 2014, lenders reviewed their books and in 2015 and 2016 reclassified a large volume of loans from investor to owner-occupier, and some borrowers switched to the cheaper owner-occupier rate. The level of this series jumped as a result without any new lending. The RBA adjusts its published growth rates for such breaks, but levels and simple changes in levels around those years overstate owner-occupier growth. For long comparisons, the total housing credit series avoids the problem.

The owner-occupier housing credit is at its lowest since June 2026, when it stood at A$1,755.0 bn. Within ten years, the owner-occupier housing credit beats 99% of readings.

Owner-occupier housing credit, seasonally adjusted.

RBA publishes the owner-occupier housing credit monthly in RBA table D2, in AUD and is seasonally adjusted. Code: DLCACOHS. Method for the owner-occupier housing credit.