Australia: Housing finance in Nov printed -0.9% - TDS

Analysts at TD Securities point out that Australian housing finance in Nov came in at -0.9%/m (mkt -1.5%) with a now familiar mix of a slump in investor finance (-4.5%/m), but there was a -1.4%/m slip in owner-occupied loans (the latter about bank over-caution in lending).

Key Quotes

“Expect another round of government jawboning to encourage banks to lend more as the May election approaches. We note that loans fixed for 2y+ increased substantially over the last six months from 11.6% to 16.9% as a result of new loans and refinancing. The average loan size shrinking by 4% over the past six months is a key driver of the fall in house prices.”