Central bank holds rates, warns housing still “too easy to overheat”
Policymakers left the policy rate unchanged and pointed to mortgage demand, not factories, as the risk they are watching into the new year.
The decision was widely expected. The language was not. In a statement that ran longer than usual, the bank said goods inflation had cooled while household credit had not.
Governor Elena Voss told a briefing that factories were “behaving themselves” and that the trouble, if it comes, would come from bidding wars in a handful of cities. She declined to hint at a cut before spring.
Markets trimmed bets on an early easing. Housebuilders, already cautious on land purchases, said they would wait for the next two labour reports.
