Credit cards and loans in Australia
16 November 2015 by News Desk
Consumers’ use of credit cards in Australia remains flat but loans for new cars and homes are at record levels.
The number of new housing loans has reached historic highs over the past year and in the 12 months to September new loans to buy cars have also reached record highs as Aussie drivers dump their old wheels for new. Finance for used cars is down 1.8% on a year earlier while loans for new cars have increased by 12.4%.
While there’s no slowdown in loans for big-ticket items, credit card usage is flat and credit card debt is lower than a year ago.
Latest figures from the Reserve Bank show the use of credit card limits increased slightly from 34.5% in August to 34.6% in September.
The average credit card balance increased by 0.2% to $3,135.70 in August. This is a 1.5% fall compared to a year ago. The average outstanding balance on Australian credit cards fell by $11.80 in September to a near 10-year low of $1,979.00. The average credit card limit rose by 0.1% to $9,067.70 in September and has increased by 0.2% over the past 12 months.
On average, there were 11.8 transactions made per each credit card account in September, with the average value of purchases $128.01.
