The demand for home loans increased for the fifth straight month in November, in line with expectations, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The ABS figures showed the number of home loans granted in November rose a seasonally adjusted 1.4 per cent to 46,953.
That result comes after a downwardly revised 46,293 in October.
Loans were expected to have risen by 1.4 per cent in the month, according to analysts.
Total housing finance, by value, lifted by 2.1 per cent in November, seasonally adjusted, to $2.034 billion.
Macquarie senior economist Brian Redican said the data was encouraging.
"Definitely, we are seeing a step in the right direction," he said.
Mr Redican said the housing sector might receive a boost from the two successive interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) late last year, and the prospect of more cuts to come in 2012.
"I think it does have to have a positive impact.
"These numbers don't reflect those cuts yet and it will have to take a few more months for that to flow through.
"What it does do is just make housing more affordable for those people that were thinking of going into the housing market."
Westpac senior currency strategist Sean Callow said the November home loan approvals data usually don't surprise because banks already have good information on that month.
He added it was too early to see the market's reaction to the November interest rate cut.
"If you were thinking about taking out a new loan on the rate cut you wouldn't do so until the rate actually fell," he said.
"Australian housing finance is very close to expectations."
"By state, NSW remains an outperformer, plus 4.2 per cent, though perhaps flattered by approvals being brought forward ahead of the January 1 increase in state stamp duty.
"New South Wales had a horror start to the year but it's risen every month since then.
"Oversupply seems to be hurting VIC, minus 0.2 per cent for a third consecutive decline.
"Queensland remains sluggish, up 0.9 per cent, only after two declines while WA held up with a 0.9 per cent gain."
Mr Callow said the result was OK in national terms.
St George chief economist Besa Deda said the data showed that conditions in the housing sector were slowly improving.
She said that while November's interest rate cut may have helped boost the figures, housing finance numbers had been rising since April 2011.
"I think the rate cut would have helped, but I don't think you can say it is entirely due to that," she said.
Ms Deda said a rise in the number of first-home buyers was also good news and would help stabilise house prices in 2012.
"That's also a positive element because it means that it is helping improve the liquidity in the market.
"We think it will help in the stabilisation of house prices in the first half of this year and that a modest improvement in house prices will come in next year."
First-home buyers accounted for 20.00 per cent of total owner-occupied housing commitments for November, up from 19.1 per cent for the previous month.
Ms Deda said she did not expect the figures to weigh heavily on the RBA board when it meets in February to decide whether or not to deliver another interest rate cut.
"I think they would have largely expected this trend to continue improving," she said.
"It's European developments and more general global developments which are top of mind for the RBA."
