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The Reserve Bank (RBA) has warned Australian lenders that in a low interest rate environment, lending standards must be maintained.
This follows a similar warning from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority last week.
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“In the current environment of low interest rates and slow credit growth, members agreed that it was especially important that banks maintained prudent lending standards,” minutes of the RBA board's September meeting state.
While Australia's banking system is in a "sound position" when compared with overseas banks, the board also noted the risks posed by the availability of cheap credit.
The release of the minutes comes just a week after the APRA also issued a warning to lenders that lax lending standards could spark a second downturn.
The Reserve Bank added that it would be closely monitoring the increased appetite for purchasing investment property in SMSFs.
"Property gearing in self-managed superannuation funds was one area identified where households could be starting to take some risk with their finances," the RBA minutes said.
Brokers have also noticed an uptick in SMSF enquiries, with 28 per cent of the upcoming 2013 Elite Business Writers ranking claiming to have added SMSF loans to their revenue stream in the past financial year. Sixty per cent of the brokers who made the list now offer SMSF loan services.
The complete Top 50 Elite Business Writers ranking will be available in the November issue of The Adviser.
