Interesting take on mortgage delinquencies - not only are they continuing but indicating impacts of the high Australian dollar are noticeable, with stress in areas reliant on tourism (and sensitive to the exchange rate) - with mentions of the Sunshine Coast are we seeing a repeat of Florida-style stress in the US subprime crisis?
....RBA's easing of interest rates over the last few months have helped ease the number of mortgage delinquencies across Australia, but many postcodes remain on the repayment blacklist....According to a list released by credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings, overall mortgage delinquencies across Australia decreased to 1.2 per cent in September 2012, down from 1.6 per cent at end of March 2012 (here).
...Australia’s tourist and coastal areas had some of the highest levels of mortgage delinquencies, while city centers had the lowest rates, Fitch Ratings said.... A cash rate matching a half-century low helped boost home prices by 1.8 percent in January from a year earlier, after a 0.4 percent decline in 2012, according to the RP Data-Rismark home value index. The central bank yesterday held the benchmark interest rate at 3 percent, while signaling it has room to cut further, as the local currency remains elevated....“Coastal regions that rely on tourism are less affected by monetary policy and more by the high Australian dollar,” James Zanesi, Sydney-based associate director at Fitch, said in the e- mailed statement (here).
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