According to the latest figures releases, the total number of home loan approvals in Australia has remained at the same level during the month of January.

The data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that there were 51,054 home loan approvals in January compared to 51,045 approvals during the month of December. Analysts were expecting an increase of about 0.8 per cent in the total number of home loan approvals during the month of January.

The data also showed that first time buyers took a very small proportion of the loans in the country. The proportion of home loans approved in January for first-home buyers was recorded at just 13.2 per cent, which is just above the record low of 12.3 per cent recorded in November. The total loans include home loans as well as loans to investors in the country. The total value of lending to first-home buyers fell to an all-time low as a proportion of the total excluding refinancing transactions.

The bureau said that in seasonally adjusted terms, the total number of commitments for homes fell 0.4 percent in January to AU $26.86 billion or about US $24 billion. Experts are still expecting the Australian housing sector to record growth in the coming months.