From Moody’s:
Moody’s Investors Service says that Australian prime mortgage arrears worsened in January compared to the previous month.
As published in Moody’s just-released Global Structured Finance Collateral Performance Review, Moody’s says arrears in excess of 30 days in the Australian prime residential mortgage market were 1.52% in January, up from 1.44% in December but down from 1.71% the same period one year earlier.
Thirty-day-plus arrears in the Australian non-conforming market were higher at 9.21% compared with 7.39% in December and 8.68% in January 2012.
Australian Prime 60-day-plus arrears, at 0.92%, compare favourably to some of the other countries covered in the Global Collateral Performance Report. The Netherlands (0.76%) and Japan (0.24%) are the only countries reporting a lower 60-plus arrears rate.
“Looking ahead, we expect the performance trends witnessed in 2012 to continue over 2013 with stable delinquencies, underpinned by expected GDP growth of 2.5% to 3.5%, a continuation of the low interest rate environment, and a steady unemployment rate of 4.5% to 5.5%” says Jennifer Wu, a Moody’s Vice President and Senior Credit Officer.
