REA Group’s John Healy says while house prices continue to rise, so to, do questions around housing affordability, with fears house price rises could be as high as 20 per cent, if not more, over the course of the year.
“This week, some leading economists have said it’s increasingly likely that the regulator, APRA, may need to intervene with macro-prudential controls to put some speed limits into the market,” he said.
The Reserve Bank left interest rates on hold this week – as the market continues to boom – with the current price surge leading to increasing concerns around housing affordability.
“While interest rates remain low for some years yet, it may be the case that interest rate buffers on home loan applications are increased – meaning people’s borrowing capacity is reduced,” Mr Healy said.