Loans power back
There's been some talk around industry circles about strong housing lending, defying the doom and gloom narrative in the mainstream media.
And the December numbers confirmed as much, with total housing lending (ex-refinancing) increasing to surpass previous highs, at $32.8 billion.
Investor lending was solid (up 2.4 per cent in the month), and owner-occupier lending rebound (up 5.3 per cent) was largely driven by the backlog in Sydney and Melbourne as those cities reopened in Q4.
The average loan size for existing dwellings increased to a record high.
The same was true for all owner-occupier loan types, with six of the eight states and territories seeing loan sizes hit a record high.
Detailed analysis from the data king James Foster here.
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The Reserve Bank wants to see stronger wages growth before moving on interest rates.
So probably forget any changes in the cash rate until...September, at the earliest.
