Too early to sound all-clear on credit conditions

Housing finance commitments have started to edge up again and suggest that house prices won’t fall much further for now. Households are taking the weaker housing market in their stride and APRA Chairman Byres thinks that any further tightening in credit conditions will be marginal. However, we still see a risk that rising mortgage rates and tighter credit conditions result in further falls in house prices which will eventually undermine consumer confidence.