APRA Warns Albanese On House Prices

With further steep rate rises likely, and a number of over-leveraged households on the brnk of financial distress, property prices will fall according to the Autralian Prudential Regulation Authority’s briefing to the Federal government.

In its May brief, the agency that monitors the health of the banking system warned of a rapid shift in the economic outlook.

“Inflationary pressures and increases in interest rates will increase the cost of finance for business and housing,” the briefing said.

“More broadly, frequent natural disasters, increasing geopolitical tensions and cyber threats, and the lingering impact of COVID-19 are creating volatility in financial markets, increasing cost pressures for all industries and heightening risks in the financial system.”

The briefing also spoke of risks in the nation’s now $10 trillion housing market and said households had become increasingly leveraged due to years of historically low-interest rates.

The brief went on the describe the housing markets as “cyclical”, with interest rate increases placing vulnerable households in financial distress.

“The faster-than-expected emergence of inflationary pressures and a rising interest rate environment is likely to place some strain on household balance sheets and place a number of households in financial distress.”

Further, the body suggested the rate rise will impact housing prices stating: “More generally, high interest rates will reduce borrowing capacity, increasing the likelihood of a decline in Australian housing prices”.

However, the document was optimistic in its assessment of the Australian economy’s ability to handle the stress of both inflation and rising interest rates and is keen to closely monitor the lending standards ongoing.

”APRA will continue to actively monitor lending standards and evolving risks in housing markets and review its macroprudential response in consultation with [Council of Financial Regulators] agencies.”

The personal wardrobe of the late fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who is credited for introducing punk to fashion and further developing the style, is headed to auction in June.

Christie’s will hold the live sale in London on June 25, while some of the pieces will be available in an online auction from June 14-28, according to a news release from the auction house on Monday.

Andreas Kronthaler, Westwood’s husband and the creative director for her eponymous fashion company, selected the clothing, jewellery, and accessories for the sale, and the auction will benefit charitable organisations The Vivienne Foundation, Amnesty International, and Médecins Sans Frontières.

The more than 200 lots span four decades of Westwood’s fashion, dating to Autumn/Winter 1983-84, which was one of Westwood’s earliest collections. Titled “Witches,” the collection was inspired by witchcraft as well as Keith Haring’s “graphic code of magic symbols,” and the earliest piece being offered from it is a two-piece ensemble made of navy blue serge, according to the release.

“Vivienne Westwood’s sense of activism, art and style is embedded in each and every piece that she created,” said Adrian Hume-Sayer, the head of sale and director of Private & Iconic Collections at Christie’s.

A corset gown of taupe silk taffeta from “Dressed to Scale,” Autumn/Winter 1998-99, will also be included in the sale. The collection “referenced the fashions that were documented by the 18th century satirist James Gillray and were intended to attract as well as provoke thought and debate,” according to Christie’s.

Additionally, a dress with a blue and white striped blouse and a printed propaganda modesty panel and apron is a part of the wardrobe collection. The dress was a part of “Propaganda,” Autumn/Winter 2005-06, Westwood’s “most overtly political show” at the time. It referenced both her punk era and Aldous Huxley’s essay “Propaganda in a Democratic Society,” according to Christie’s.

The wardrobe collection will be publicly exhibited at Christie’s London from June 14-24.

“The pre-sale exhibition and auctions at Christie’s will celebrate her extraordinary vision with a selection of looks that mark significant moments not only in her career, but also in her personal life,” Hume-Sayer said. “This will be a unique opportunity for audiences to encounter both the public and the private world of the great Dame Vivienne Westwood and to raise funds for the causes in which she so ardently believed.”

Westwood died in December 2022 in London at the age of 81.

APRA Warns Albanese On House Prices

The regulatory body’s government briefing wary of a rapid shift in the economic outlook.