Home loan approvals for the week ending May 6 came in at $1.72 billion nationwide, up on the previous week’s total of $1.46 billion.

They were also up on the figure for the same period of time in 2015, which came in at $1.48 billion.

The value of loans has fluctuated considerably in recent months, but this week’s total was the highest of any week in the last three months.

It is also higher than the then-record value of $1.56 billion reported in December 2015.

This would seem to reflect the growing strength of housing markets around the country.

For the week, there were 7,050 home loan approvals, up from 5,962 the previous week. 

The number of approvals was up 3.6% on the same 13 weeks in 2015, and up 8.0% when 52-week periods were compared.

While the number of loans approved was high, the number has been higher in the past.

For example, back in the week ending April 3 2009, nearly 11,000 loans were approved. However, those loans were valued at only $1.3 billion.

This could indicate that current borrowers are taking out bigger loans which, given recent house price growth, seems likely.

On releasing the latest Financial Stability Report yesterday, the Reserve Bank said it is monitoring all housing market related data closely

This is in order to establish whether to introduce further macro-prudential policy in a bid to curb the housing market, particularly in Auckland.