Should Australia’s banks worry about Auckland’s bubble?

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By Leith van Onselen

This site has frequently noted how Australia’s banking system is inextricably linked to Australia’s sovereign credit rating, and that if the Commonwealth Government is downgraded, then it will automatically result in the Big Four banks being downgraded, in turn raising their funding costs as well as mortgage rates.

This linkage is especially important to over-extended mortgage borrowers in Sydney and Melbourne, where housing valuations are extreme and the markets are a clear bubble.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.