At first glance this seems to be a subtle ploy by CBA to add further fuel to the new property boom. These changes will inhibit development of new property, exacerbating the already critical shortage, and they will also discourage people from investing in the stockmarket. What does that leave? Existing property. There is no mention of tighter credit for people who wish to buy additional existing property. Seems that's where CBA wants people to invest.
Interesting to note the timing of this change in line with Mr Blythe's statement above. CBA will tighten credit for property developers (and share investors), but not for people who wish to invest in existing property. It looks to me like CBA actually want to dampen the construction boom, because they know that if the construction boom overheats, and we develop too many properties, then we may face a US style crash due to over-supply.
That is a possibility that I have been discussing for several years, and is just one of the reason why I think there is a chance of a crash around 2014-2015, because that is how long one can reasonably expect the forthcoming construction boom to kick off, build up steam, and then eventually lead to an oversupply of property. However, if the banks do move to restrict development, then we will simply get higher house prices due to an inadequate supply-side response.
Shadow.