Property investors are likely to find it harder to obtain the big mortgages often required to buy free-standing homes after regulators signalled they would likely act to tighten lending rules.
Nationally, the monthly growth rate in prices slowed to 1.5 per cent, compared to its peak rate of 2.8 per cent in March. He says that single-income owner-occupiers would be another group that would likely find it harder to buy property if the regulator was to impose a debt-to-income cap on lenders. However, Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital, says a tightening of lending controls to slow the record levels of housing finance is warranted. He says more than 20 per cent of new loans are going to borrowers with debt-to-income ratios above six times, up from 14 per cent two years ago.