Mortgage lending picks up pace
The amount of mortgage lending on fixed rates is closing in on the amount that is floating for the first time in years.
Friday, May 31st 2013, 11:06PM
Reserve Bank statistics show that for April, $90.37 billion in mortgages was fixed. There was another $92.74 billion on floating rates.
That is a stark difference compared to this time a year ago, when $109.79 billion was floating and just $64.10 billion fixed.
That means any changes to the official cash rate will have less of an immediate effect on home loans, although it is expected that the bank’s first move will be to use its macroprudential tools.
But by number, there are still significantly more loans floating - 888,242 compared to 530,055 fixed. The majority of the home loan lending is on short terms - $47.09 billion is fixed for one year or less.
At present, it is cheaper to fix for a term up to two years than it is to float.
Lending growth has picked up pace, too. It is now growing at a rate of almost 5% per year, compared to just 1.5% a year ago, which will concern Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler.
He said this week the bank was concerned the acceleration of household debt was from a starting point where debt levels are already high, relative to incomes.
The current rate of about 145% is about half as much again as at the same time ten years ago, before the last housing boom.
| « Wheeler hints OCR cut possible | Borrowers go long » |
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