MNI 5 Things:RBA Pvt Sector Credit +0.4% M/M; Hsg Credit Slows

--Other Personal Credit Fall Accelerates

By Sophia Rodrigues

     SYDNEY (MNI)  - Below are the five key observations we made from private

sector credit data for April published by the Reserve Bank of Australia on

Thursday:

     --Investor mortgage credit growth rose 0.1% m/m in April, slowing from

+0.2% monthly gains in each of the five months prior. In y/y terms, investor

mortgages rose 2.3%, the slowest pace of increase since September 2016.

     --Total housing credit rose 0.4% m/m in April, marking only the third time

since September 2013 where the growth rate was as slow at 0.4%. In y/y terms,

the growth slowed to +6.0%, the lowest rate since 5.9% recorded in March 2014.

     --Owner-occupier mortgage growth is supporting the rise in total mortgage

and helping to offset the sharp decline in investor loans. In April,

owner-occupier mortgages rose 0.6%, but y/y rate slowed to +8.0%, the lowest in

three months.

     --Business credit rose for the third straight month, though in April it

slowed to a 0.5% m/m pace from 0.7% in March. In y/y terms, it rose 4.3%,

marking a rate last seen in August 2017.

     --Other personal credit fell 0.3% m/m, the biggest monthly fall since

October 2015.

--MNI Sydney Bureau; tel: +61 2-9716-5467; email: sophia.rodrigues@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$A$$$,M$L$$$,MT$$$$]