The total number of home loans issued in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday – coming in at 55,786.

That missed forecasts for a decline of 3.0 percent following the upwardly revised 2.7 percent gain in December (originally 2.6 percent).

The value of loans tumbled 4.3 percent to A$20.543 billion after easing 0.2 percent in the previous month.

Investment lending slipped 1.6 percent to A$11.356 billion after dipping 0.1 percent a month earlier.

The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com