The total number of home loans in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday - coming in at 58,552.
That missed forecasts for an increase of 3.0 percent following the 1.8 percent gain in November.
Investment lending added 0.6 percent to A$11.638 billion after rising 0.7 percent in the previous month.
The total value of home loans advanced 0.9 percent to A$21.882 billion - slowing from 2.4 percent a month earlier.
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