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Consumer credit demand has taken a turn upward, but mortgage demand remains weak.
Veda's quarterly Consumer Credit Demand Index shows a 2.4% year-on-year rise in the demand for credit for the three months to September. The rise was driven by a 4.4% year-on-year uptick in personal loan demand. Head of consumer risk at Veda, Angus Luffman, said the results showed a recovery in credit demand after major declines following the GFC.
"Overall, the demand for new credit is trending upwards year-on-year since the huge falls of 2009.The result for September is also significant in seasonal terms. Historically, the trend is for consumer credit demand to fall in the September quarter following the end of financial year. This result shows the fall from the June quarter of -6.5% is the smallest on record since tracking began in 2004," Luffman commented.
Mortgage demand, however, continued to decline. Home loan enquiries fell for the seventh consecutive quarter. Demand for mortgages was down 6.7% year-on-year and 9.2% quarter-on-quarter. However, the year-on-year decline for the September quarter was the lowest rate of decline since the March 2010 quarter.
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