The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) President, Mr Hayden Groves said the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that both owner occupiers and investors are shying away from the property sector as interest rate rises and high costs associated with buying hinder the market.

According to the latest ABS lending statistics, the value of new loan commitments for housing fell 8.5 per cent to $28.4 billion in July 2022 (seasonally adjusted) after a fall of 4.4 per cent in June, according to data released today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

“The value of new owner-occupier loan commitments fell 7.0 per cent in July 2022, while new investor loan commitments fell 11.2 per cent.

“Still, owner occupier loans in July 2022 were 40 per cent higher than February 2020, while investor loans were 78 per cent higher."

Mr Groves said that rising inflation and housing affordability have become key issues adding that state and federal governments need to prioritise this before the situation worsens.

“The ABS figures coincide with CoreLogic's latest data which shows their home value index dropped 1.6 per cent in August, the biggest national monthly decline since 1983.”

CoreLogic's data shows falls across all capital cities, except for Darwin, which recorded a 0.9 per cent rise in August.

Mr Groves said property ownership and investment has become increasingly challenging for many Australians.