Despite recent interest rate rises, Victorian Supreme Court repossession writs show lenders moved to repossess just 221 homes in March compared with 246 in February and 253 in January, giving weight to the claims that Australia's housing market is not in crisis.
The general manager of interest rate monitor Infochoice, Denis Orrock, said home owners were either more resilient than many analysts believed or lenders were urging them to sell before being forced to.
"It might be that lenders are saying to people, 'you need to sell or we will do it for you'," he said.
"Owners are smart enough to know that they will get more if they sell up themselves."
Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens last week dismissed claims higher interest rates had left more than 650,000 households in financial stress.
The bank says only about 15,000 households in Australia are more than 90 days behind in their home loans -- a number that has fallen in the past 12 months.
Fortunately, repossession writs do not always result in evictions because many home owners are able to work through their problems with their lenders, and RBA boss Glenn Stevens indicated relief may be in sight with a possible interest rate decrease.
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