In October last year, Phil Chronican, chief executive of ANZ Australia, warned Fairfax radio station 3AW that:
“when there is a lot of cheap money around that results in asset price inflation”.
11 months later, with Sydney going nuts, Bloomie reports that:
ANZ OFFERING LOANS TO CHINA RESIDENTS TO BUY HOMES IN AUSTRALIA
BN 09/26 03:18 *ANZ SEES AUSTRALIA HOME SHORTAGE RISING TO 370K BY 2015 BN 09/26 03:17 *ANZ ESTIMATES DWELLING SHORTFALL OF 270,000, CHRONICAN SAYS BN 09/26 03:17 *ANZ’S CHRONICAN: RISING COSTS, RED TAPE TO CONSTRAIN BUILDING BN 09/26 03:16 *ANZ’S CHRONICAN: GOVT SUBSIDIES WORSEN AFFORDABILITY BN 09/26 03:16 *ANZ’S CHRONICAN: SEES 5% RISE IN AUST. HOUSE PRICES NEXT 12 MOS BN 09/26 03:16 *ANZ’S CHRONICAN: WEAK OUTLOOK, CAUTION TO MODERATE PRICE GROWTH BN 09/26 03:15 *ANZ’S CHRONICAN: AUSTRALIAN HOUSING BUBBLE CONCERNS OVERSTATED.
I don’t want to jump to conclusions given the scarcity of the story but sheesh it’s got the makings of ugly.