Australia banking regulator warns household debt too high

Headlines crossed the wires from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) chairman Wayne Byres, as he delivered a keynote address to the Australian Securitization Forum earlier today.

Key Quotes via Reuters:

"Household indebtedness is high. Perhaps more importantly, the trajectory is clearly for it to rise further."

“Lenders need to be vigilant to ensure their policies and practices are both prudent and responsible.”

“In short, heightened risk requires heightened prudence by APRA but also - and preferably - by lenders and borrowers themselves."

"High LTI (loan-to-income lending) in Australia is well north of what has been permitted in other jurisdictions grappling with high house prices and low-interest rates such as the UK and Ireland."