Morning Briefing: APRA crack down again slows investor lending

The regulator's push to slow down investor lending is showing more signs of having an effect... Global economy likely to be weaker this year, says International Monetary Fund chief...

APRA crack down again slows investor lending​
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) push to slow down investor lending is showing more signs of having an effect.

Statistics released yesterday by the Reserve Bank of Australia show that lending to investors cooled over August, but growth levels still remain above the 10% annual cap mandated by the regulator.

According to the RBA figures, in the year to August investor lending grew by 10.7%, down from 10.8% in July.

While above the APRA limit, the regulator is likely to be pleased that growth levels have dropped for two straight months following the 11.1% peak reached in June, having increased every month since December 2011.

The August figures back up a prediction made by CoreLogic RP Data analyst Cameron Kusher, who last month said the peak of lending to investors had likely passed.

“Although it’s only one month of data, the latest housing credit data to July 2015 suggests that we may be finally set to see a slowing of investment credit growth,” Kusher said in September.

Kusher also said he believes investor lending growth will fall to APRA’s mandated 10%, but it is unlikely to go much lower than that.

“Investment segment lending data on the investment segment suggests that following recent changes to lending policies by Australian ADIs, lending to the investment segment of the market is set to slow further over the coming months,” he said.

“With mortgage rates remaining low we would anticipate the rate of growth will slow to around the 10% per annum benchmark, however this is unlikely to drop much further than that.”
Originally from Your Investment Property, Phil McCarroll​
 
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Global economy likely to be weaker this year, says International Monetary Fund chief
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that global growth will likely be weaker this year as the world economy confronts a host of problems, including a refugee crisis in Europe, an economic slowdown in China and a pending rise in U.S. interest rates.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde predicted a moderate rebound in growth in advanced economies such as the United States, Europe and Japan. But emerging economies will experience a fifth consecutive year of slowing activity, she said.

Lagarde said potential growth is being held back by low productivity, aging populations and lingering problems from the 2008 financial crisis such as high debt levels. She said it will be critical to properly manage the transition in China to consumer-led growth and the pending move by the Federal Reserve to higher interest rates.

In a speech previewing next week's annual meetings of the 188-nation IMF and its sister lending agency, the World Bank, Lagarde said that currently global growth is "disappointing and uneven," with many emerging market nations losing revenue from falling prices of commodities such as oil.

Lagarde said that the IMF would release its updated economic forecasts next week. While she did not reveal specific figures, she said growth was expected to be weaker this year than last year, with a modest acceleration expected in 2016.
 
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