Demand for housing credit in Australia is unlikely to decrease but major banks will look to achieve the best returns they can on "the increasingly scarce wholesale funding they are able to secure".
This is according to Scott Manning, banking analyst at J.P. Morgan, who said that banks may find they can be happy with the size of their housing portfolio and seek to optimise profitability, instead of chasing additional market share gains.
He was speaking as the J.P. Morgan/Fujitsu Australia Mortgage Industry Report showed that housing credit growth has recovered from a three-month annualised growth rate of 6.1 per cent in September 2008 to 9.0 per cent in February this year.
"Housing affordability is a real issue, especially for first time buyers who are having to reach very high to enter the market," commented Martin North, executive director for the industry group at Fujitsu in Australia & New Zealand.
In recent developments, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent.
Posted by Craig Francis
This is according to Scott Manning, banking analyst at J.P. Morgan, who said that banks may find they can be happy with the size of their housing portfolio and seek to optimise profitability, instead of chasing additional market share gains.
He was speaking as the J.P. Morgan/Fujitsu Australia Mortgage Industry Report showed that housing credit growth has recovered from a three-month annualised growth rate of 6.1 per cent in September 2008 to 9.0 per cent in February this year.
"Housing affordability is a real issue, especially for first time buyers who are having to reach very high to enter the market," commented Martin North, executive director for the industry group at Fujitsu in Australia & New Zealand.
In recent developments, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent.
Posted by Craig Francis
