Agree, it is. Michele Bullock (Assistant Governor Financial System), speaking at the Responsible Lending and Borrowing Summit, Sydney.
However, in the interest of page clicks and publicity:
... OMG!!!! Mortgage stress!!! We are all DOOMED!
(ps. please buy my crappy newsletter)
There, that's better.
Bullock headline via Bloomberg ... and they dd a bit more detail:
- "The historically high levels of mortgage debt in Australia raises questions about the resilience of household balance sheets to a change in circumstances and the ability of the financial system to absorb a widespread increase in household financial stress. The information we have suggests that, while there are some pockets of financial stress, the overall level of stress among mortgaged households remains relatively low"
- Bullock notes a large proportion of interest-only loans are due to expire between 2018 and 2022 Among such borrowers, she said, there may be some who "do not meet current lending standards for extending their interest-only repayments but would find the step-up to principal and interest repayments difficult to manage"
If you'd like the full text of her speech ... I've no idea sorry, the Reserve Bank of Australia website does not appear to have it ... ahhh, here we go:
