Rising home loan arrears are in part a function of "earlier weaker lending standards, and the more recent tightening in lending standards," Jonathan Kearns, head of the Reserve Bank's Financial Stability Department said yesterday."With falling housing prices the potential for banks to experience losses increases," Kearns told a Property Council summit in Canberra yesterday in a speech placing yet more context to the recent cut in the RBA cash rate."While the increase in arrears and its level is notable, the rate of arrears in Australia is still relatively low internationally, and in an absolute sense," Kearns said.Chiming in, S&P Global Ratings yesterday updated its data on the topic, with Australian prime home-loan arrears rising in April.Arrears have continued to rise during the past 12 months, albeit from low levels, despite low interest rates and stable employment conditions, S&P said."Most of the increase has been for loans more than 90 days in arrears," S&P said.Investor arrears rose to 1.52 per cent in April from 1.46 per cent a month earlier and owner-occupier arrears reached 1.76 per cent, up from 1.73 per cent a month earlier. "Investor arrears have increased at a faster rate than owner-occupier arrears this year," S&P said.Clearing up the mortgage arrears problem for lenders may rely mostly on a turnaround in the property market.Nationally prices have fallen eight per cent from their peak, auction clearance rates and volumes have declined, and properties are taking longer to sell, Kearns reminded his audience. "In this environment, borrowers who fall into arrears find it harder to sell their property and repay their loan. Indeed, across the country, we see there is a strong relationship between recent housing price growth and the rate at which borrowers are leaving arrears. "In those locations where housing price growth has been weaker, a smaller share of borrowers transition out of arrears," he said.