Pursuits
Crackdown Improved Australian Banks' Mortgage Lending Standards, Regulator Says
- Regulator holds banks’ counter-cyclical capital buffer at zero
- APRA has taken steps in recent years to curb property loans
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Australian banks have “appreciably improved” their mortgage-lending standards, the nation’s regulator said, as it left the amount of additional capital banks are required to hold as a buffer against the build-up of credit risk at zero.
The pace of lending to property investors is currently at around half of the regulator’s recommended levels, and higher-risk mortgages -- such as those with loan-to-value ratios of over 90 percent -- had fallen, the Australian Prudential and Regulatory Authority said in its annual report on the operation of the counter-cyclical capital buffer.