No cut to annual growth limit on Aussie mortgage loans

Sydney

AUSTRALIA'S banking regulator has no intention to lower its annual lending growth limit of 10 per cent on loans to speculative property investors, chairman Wayne Byres said on Tuesday, even as overall home lending remains high.

Australian banks have reined in lending to home investors since last year following stern warnings from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (Apra) to cool red-hot housing markets in Sydney and Melbourne without hurting first-time home owners.