Credit growth solid
Credit growth was a solid 0.5 per cent in February, and 6½ per cent over the year, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia's Financial Aggregates.
Personal credit growth has been low, but consumers may be using more diverse sources of funding these days.
Business credit growth has been strong, on the other hand. rising 9 per cent over the past year.
Housing credit growth was 0.4 per cent in February, to be up by 5.6 per cent over the year.
Owner-occupier credit growth was 0.44 per cent, and investor lending was stronger, rising by 0.49 per cent over the month.
I'm not quite sure how that rounds down to 0.4 per cent for housing overall - maybe a seasonal adjustment - but in any case it's clear that investors have been making their way back into the housing market over recent months.
The housing credit impulse is actually pretty strong, and seems to suggest stronger price growth than we have seen in recent months.
That's partly because more supply has come online, and also there's probably a bit of a lag, with CoreLogic set to report housing price gains for March and for the months ahead.
We'll soon be into the winter months, and there will be less supply for buyers to choose from.
The Housing Industry Association reported that new home sales were flat in February, with WA, Queensland, and South Australia picking up, but sales for new housing supply weak overall in New South Wales.
The Reserve Bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold tomorrow, but 18 of 26 economists in the Bloomberg survey are plumping for a cut in May.
Australia's 3-year bond yield is trading at 3.66 per cent, which is the lowest level since early in October 2024.
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