We know from the 2016 experience that Glenn Greenspan would already be cutting interest rates today. But what of Phil Lowe? Yesterday the RBA noted that:
Nationwide measures of housing prices are little changed over the past six months. Conditions in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets have eased, with prices declining in both markets. Housing credit growth has declined, with investor demand having slowed noticeably. Lending standards are tighter than they were a few years ago, with APRA’s supervisory measures helping to contain the build-up of risk in household balance sheets. Some further tightening of lending standards by banks is possible, although the average mortgage interest rate on outstanding loans has been declining for some time.
Prices are not the same. They are falling. In Sydney and Melbourne at a pretty good clip. Everywhere else bar Hobart is falling in real terms as well. The refusal to admit this bespeaks a central bank that is deliberately de-emphasising prices.
