Home price growth unsustainable: Fitch Ratings
Fitch Ratings believes the current yearly rate of home-price growth is unsustainable, particularly in the Sydney and Melbourne markets.
The combined capital city index grew 7.94% year on year, led by Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
It notes the growth rate remains high, but has continued to ease since the peak in April 2014.
Changes in home prices:
Source: CoreLogic RP Data, Fitch
But it added gains in property prices have historically resulted in a decrease in 90 plus days arrears, suggesting that high house prices allow borrowers to sell properties and clear arrears.
The report noted 30+plus days delinquencies increased by 7 basic points to 1.15% in 4Q14 despite the low interest rates, high house prices, and competitive lending.
However, performance was still better than a year before.