Sharp decline in new mortgages granted

The total value of new credit granted increased from R80.75 billion for the quarter ended March 2011 to R85.08 billion for the quarter ended June 2011, an increase of 5.36% when compared to the previous quarter, but 25.95% higher than a year ago.

Increase in applications

The number of applications received for credit increased by 834,700 from 5.80 million in March 2011 to 6.63 million in June 2011 - an increase of 14.39% (also an increase of 1.43% when compared to the same period last year). The value of new mortgages granted increased by 2.78% quarter-on-quarter from R24.76 billion to R25.45 billion, while secured credit, which is dominated by vehicle finance, showed a decrease from R27.45 billion for March 2011 to R26.96 billion for June 2011 (a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 1.77%).

Unsecured credit increased from R16.69 billion for March 2011 to R18.95 billion for June 2011 (a quarter-on-quarter increase of 13.54%) and credit facilities - which mainly consists of credit cards, store cards and bank overdrafts - increased by 15.65% quarter-on-quarter from R10.43 billion to R12.06 billion. Short term credit showed a quarter-on-quarter increase of 16.21% from R1.42 billion to R1.65 billion. As at June 2011, the total outstanding consumer credit balances (or gross debtors' book) was R1.23 trillion representing a quarter on quarter growth of 1.32%.