Impact of APRA restrictions on investors wearing off
Even with APRA intervention, lending to property investors has seen a small rise.
According to RateCity, investor lending went up 1.6 per cent over July, despite APRA restricting lending to investors further earlier this year.
To Sally Tindall, RateCity’s money editor, this shows the resilience of investors.
“The APRA intervention initially took the steam out of the property market, but the latest figures confirm buyers are choosing to wear the rate hikes,” Ms Tindall said.
“APRA has been focused on deterring investor growth over two years now with limited success. If they’re serious about reducing the dominance of investors, APRA may have to introduce a bigger stick to fend them off.”
According to RateCity data, the percentage of fixed rate loans is at its highest percentage since November 2013 at 17.5 per cent in June 2017.
“This is a clear reaction to the out of cycle rate hikes from the banks as borrowers move to protect themselves from future increases,” Ms Tindall said.
Further RateCity data shows fixed rates bottomed out at 12.5 per cent in November 2016. After half a year, borrows are now confirming this bottom has passed.
“With the spring real estate market just around the corner and auction rates continuing to make modest improvements, it will be interesting to see whether it will be game on again for the spring property market,” Ms Tindall added.
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