New Zealand households are now borrowing more relative to their disposable incomes than they did before the global financial crisis when a red-hot housing market was encouraging consumers to tack a little onto the mortgage to pay for big ticket purchases.
Kiwi household debt is now a record 167 per cent as a proportion of disposable income, and New Zealand Institute of Economic Research senior economist Christina Leung says that’s a key risk to the economy.
RBNZ governor Graeme Wheeler today reiterated his fears about the local housing market, which has faced an imbalance between supply and demand, pushing up prices at a time when tepid inflation called for record low interest rates.
Read more here: NZ Herald – Household borrowing higher than before global financial crisis
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