Friday, 1 October 2021

Home lending cools off in August

Lending eases

Owner-occupier lending pulled back 6.6 per cent in August, driven by a 10 per cent decline in New South Wales (ex-refi) and a 5 per cent drop in Victoria.

Before you get bearish on Sydney the average home loan size in New South Wales is at all-time highs. 


The first homebuyer numbers are now normalising, following the stimulus, which has successfully increased the home ownership rate. 


Investor lending remains very solid, on the other hand up another 1.5 per cent, and nearly double where it was a year earlier. 

I doubt there will be moves to cool lending to landlords, with rental price growth continuing to increase to the higher level since the financial crisis. 


Overall, low mortgage rates, a recent shift to non-ADI lenders, and looming curbs on higher debt-to-income lending represent a decent trifecta of headwinds for Australia's banks, with stock prices looking likely to fall.