Search Results for: housing affordability

APRA Reinforces Sound Residential Mortgage Lending Practices

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has today written to authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) outlining further steps it plans to take to reinforce sound residential mortgage lending practices. These steps have been developed following discussions with other members of the Council of Financial Regulators. In the context of historically low interest rates, high levels of … Continue reading “APRA Reinforces Sound Residential Mortgage Lending Practices”

House Prices Match Income Growth – RBA

Luci Ellis, Head of Financial Stability Department spoke to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) Panel Roundtable. You can hear her remarks, and a transcript is promised later. My notes follow. Cross country comparisons on housing markets are important, but sometimes comparisons need to be used with care, e.g. specific issues like overbuilding … Continue reading “House Prices Match Income Growth – RBA”

Investment Loans Break More Records In April

The ABS published their housing finance data for April 2014. It is slightly below expectations, but the most significant element is the further rise in investor lending, which accounted for $10.9bn, or 39.4% of loans written. The highest ever was in December 2013, when Investment loans reached 39.6%. According to the ABS, the trend estimate … Continue reading “Investment Loans Break More Records In April”

April Building Approvals Down – ABS

The ABS released the building approvals data for April 2014. They report that the trend estimate for total dwellings approved fell 1.6% in April and has fallen for four months.  The seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwellings approved fell 5.6% in April and has fallen for three months. Looking at private sector houses, whilst the … Continue reading “April Building Approvals Down – ABS”