1.5% Decline in Lending Surprises Australian Economists

Economists were expecting a 2.3% increase.

Maintaining balance in a funny old boom will be no easy task

But there appear to be more powerful forces at work. For it is the two resource capitals, Brisbane and Perth, where house prices have fallen the most.
Both capitals chalked up declines of 4-5 per cent in median house and unit prices compared with a year ago, outdone only by Hobart units, which dropped an alarming 8.5 per cent.

Home owners would do almost anything to avoid default and were only too willing to be gouged by onerous fees and charges.

Banks said that in the U.S. too.

For almost 20 years, the banks have fed a real estate boom with cheap, overseas credit and have grown fat on the proceeds. But their loan books now are bursting with mortgages over residential real estate.