Morning Briefing: Asia's banks expand lending in Australia

Asian institutional banks continue to expand lending within Australia as European banks exit the market... Perth rental market still tilting towards tenants...

Asia's banks expand lending in Australia
Asian institutional banks continue to expand lending within Australia as European banks exit the market, the Australian Financial Review reports.  

Between them, Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese-based banks have $88 billion in assets in Australia, topping the $79 billion of US bank loans to companies in the country. 

Those expanding lending the fastest include China Construction Bank, Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). 

Although European banks still hold the largest share among foreign lenders ($175 billion), they have dropped by 7% a year for more than five years. 

Perth rental market still tilting towards tenants
While there are some small signs the direction of Perth’s property market may be turning around, the rental market in some areas of the city is still less than stellar.

According to figures from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA), Perth is currently home to eight suburbs where the median weekly rent is $320 or less in the three months to the end of February 2016.

Over the same period REIWA puts Perth’s city-wide median weekly rent at $400.

Of the eight suburbs on the list, five of them have a median weekly rent of just $300, while two boast a median of $315 a week and one sits at a median of $320.

REIWA president Hayden Groves said unlike cities on Australia’s eastern seaboard, rental conditions in some areas of Perth definitely favour tenants.

“Unlike the eastern states where rental affordability remains an issue, housing affordability in Perth’s rental market has improved considerably over the last 18 months,” Groves said.