The Reserve Bank of Australia is not accepting any thesis that looser credit conditions are driving the, admittedly patchy, rises in housing prices around Australia.
"The upswing in housing asset values to date has not been fuelled by a rapid expansion in borrowing," the RBA said in its quarterly
Statement on Monetary Policy, which was released on Friday.
"Growth in housing credit is gradually picking up but remains relatively moderate, and the ratio of households' housing debt to income has been little changed at around 130 per cent," it said.
"While the value of loan approvals has been rising strongly, this follows a period of weak growth, and, as a share of the stock of housing credit, new loan approvals remain relatively low.
"Loan approvals tend to move closely with the value of dwelling turnover, which has picked up owing to both higher prices and [higher] turnover volumes. Nonetheless, to date, the rate of dwelling turnover has been a little below average."
The RBA said the average interest rate on outstanding housing loans fell as borrowers refinanced at lower rates. It estimated the average interest rate on housing loans was now around 30 basis points below its previous trough in September 2009.