The number of home loans approved in May fell 1.2 per cent to 46,120, official figures show.
That was from an upwardly revised 46,702 in April.
Economists’ forecasts were for housing finance commitments to increase by one per cent in May.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said on Wednesday that total housing finance by value fell 1.4 per cent in May, seasonally adjusted, to $20.193 billion.