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Suncorp reduces exposure to Brisbane apartments

18 October 2017 6:20PM
Suncorp is tightening its lending standards for apartment buyers in the Brisbane property market following recent falls in real estate prices across the city.In a memo sent to Queensland mortgage brokers on Tuesday, the bank said it would no longer accept investment applications for apartments in the Brisbane CBD and metropolitan area with loan to value ratios of more than 80 per cent.The new lending policy will apply to all loan applications made from 23 October.The new restriction applies to apartments located in 39 postcodes, including the city's most affluent riverside suburbs such as Bulimba and Ascot.Apartment prices in Brisbane have fallen by more than two per cent in the last year, with the supply of apartments coming into the market described by several property experts as a glut.Suncorp's move follows a warning from the Reserve Bank last week that the city's apartment market faced further corrections."Some concerns remain about the process of absorbing the substantialincrease in new apartments in Brisbane," the RBA stated in its half-yearly financial stability review published last week. "Brisbane apartment prices continue to fall, although the rate of decline has slowed...a significant increase in new apartment building in Brisbane have increased the potential for further localised housing price corrections."The central bank's concerns about metropolitan apartment markets were also highlighted in the minutes of the RBA board meeting held on 3 October.While the minutes paint a positive image of growth trends in the wider economy, they also noted the potential for a large increase in the supply of apartments to affect property prices next year."A large number of apartments were expected to be completed in 2018 and 2019 in the largest cities, following several years of apartment construction," the RBA minutes noted.Board members also observed that demand for apartments from foreign buyers in major cities had eased.APRA's macro-prudential policy settings are continuing to dampen competitive moves in the home lending market.Only a few lenders have announced rate cuts this week, most notably Macquarie Bank and Homeloans that have each lowered a range of variable and fixed rate loans.Research published on Tuesday by Canstar shows that only ten owner-occupier P&I loan products were repriced in Australia last week, with eight of the moves representing increases.Only 13 mortgage products were repriced in the interest-only segment of the owner-occupier market last week. All of the moves were increases.

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