People walk past a bank advertisement for home mortgages in Sydney February 4, 2014, the indication of a once storming market.. — Reuters pic
That forecast comes despite aggressive monetary policy easing from the Reserve Bank of Australia, which has so far chopped its key interest rate to an all-time low of 0.25 per cent and launched a bond-buying campaign to hold market yields down. “Government support and the deferral of home loan repayments have undoubtedly helped support the market. But with unemployment likely to continue to rise and fiscal stimulus to shrink in Q4, prices are likely to continue to decline.”
Asked which was a greater risk for the Australian housing market over the coming year, all but one of six analysts said a sharp economic slowdown.