Demand for housing loans fell for the first time in 10 months during July as the appetite for property by first-home buyers and investors waned.

The number of home loan approvals for owner-occupied housing fell by 2% in July, seasonally adjusted, to 63,259, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.

The fall in loan approvals was the first monthly decline since September 2008, and was worse than market forecasts for a fall of one per cent.

The Age