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House price fall a 'cyclical adjustment': Westpac boss
Sydney Morning Herald March 8, 2019 2.51pm
Clancy Yeates
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer has played down concerns over the fall in house prices, describing the slump as a "cyclical adjustment" that is being managed well, but warned that policy uncertainty is harming the confidence of consumers and business.
Appearing before the government's banking inquiry on Friday, Mr Hartzer also said the Hayne royal commission was a "sad indictment" on the entire financial sector, saying the report would be be a "profound" turning point for the lender, as it implements the recommendations.
Amid a debate about how house prices may affect the economy, Mr Hartzer argued the decline in prices was a "natural response" to the increase in housing supply, rather than any clampdown on credit availability by banks.
"What we’re seeing is a cyclical adjustment after six strong years of growth, that so far regulators and banks are
managing reasonably well," he said.
Even so, he made it clear the bank was more pessimistic than the Reserve Bank about the impact of falling prices on consumers and business. He pointed to anecdotal evidence from customers, and said uncertainty about future policy was "having an effect" on confidence.
"As further reforms and legislative changes are enacted, it will be important to avoid changes that unintentionally impact the availability or pricing of credit, or have detrimental effects on the very consumers they are designed to protect," he said.
After the royal commission's report was handed down last month, Mr Hartzer said a key priority was to push ahead with responding to the report, which made 76 recommendations. Fifty-three of these recommendations would require action by banks, and of those, Westpac was either putting in place or had implemented 25, he said.
"Commissioner Hayne’s final report was a sad indictment on the financial services industry. The stories of misconduct clearly highlighted failings across the industry in our management of non-financial risks and our treatment of vulnerable customers," Mr Hartzer said.
Asked by committee deputy chairman Matt Thistlethwaite if he was "happy" with the report, released last month, Mr Hartzer described the document as "sensible and balanced".
“Happy is not a word that I would associate at all with the royal commission process,” Mr Hartzer said.
Mr Hartzer signalled that bank shares had responded positively to the report because there had not been a crackdown on lending rules - though it was also pointed out the bank's shares were about 15 per cent lower than before the royal commission.
Mr Hartzer said that if there had been "a more specific and draconian intervention in responsible lending policies or the application of those policies to small business, that could have had a significant chilling effect on credit availability and the economy.”
He apologised for the industry's failings and said implementing the changes recommended by commissioner Kenneth Hayne would be a key goal. He indicated about 1800 customer disputes involving Westpac had been taken to the new ombudsman service since it opened in November.
Mr Hartzer said Westpac had put aside $380 million for remediation costs last year, referring to a provision in its 2018 results. This was an increase of more than $200 million from a year earlier.
The bank would continue reviewing its products and compliance processes, and it "may still uncover more issues to fix", which was needed to rebuild trust", he said.
Mr Hartzer also reiterated the bank's view that falling house prices were not being caused by tighter lending policies by banks. He said Westpac's loan approval rates had been steady, and its risk appetite had not changed significantly in the past year.
“The bigger issue is that not as many people, particularly investors, are applying for loans.”