The fall in interest rates in the early 1990s, the switch in financial innovation from products directed to businesses to those directed to households and the general prosperity of the economy saw households substantially increase their debt over the subsequent 10–15 years, to about 1½ times income (Graph 7). This ratio is broadly in line with debt levels of households in other developed economies.
BIS Review 130/2010  5  Graph 7  Most of this increase in debt was for the purchase of housing, and was mirrored in a corresponding rise in house prices. Since about 2005, the pace of growth of household credit has slowed, and on average has been broadly equal to the rate of growth of household income.