Australian housing finance jumps 4.4%

The number of owner-occupied home loans taken by Australians rose by 4.4 percent in September, data released on Monday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed. According to ABS, the number of owner-occupied housing finance commitments were 51,928 in September, compared to 49,733 in August. The figure is better than economists' expectation of a 3.5 percent rise for the month. Economists say the jump in new home loans has shown that interest rate cuts take time to work their way through the economy. "Even though we might get some volatility month by month, the overall trend has been quite a sustained upturn in housing activity," Commonwealth Bank associate economist Diana Mousina told the Australian Associated Press (AAP). "We see the 2.5 percent as the low for this cash rate cycle. We think the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) has probably done enough at this stage to stimulate activity in the housing market," she said.