At the aggregate level across all households with owner-occupier housing debt, the median ratio of housing loan repayments to gross income, at about 21 per cent, is only marginally higher than a decade ago (Graph 9). Graph 9  BIS Review 106/2007  9  Another interesting feature emerges when the composition of debt is broken down by age group.
In addition, although to date the high volume of reserves evidently has not increased bank lending or reduced spreads of rates on bank loans or other assets relative to, say, Treasury rates, it could begin to do so if banks start to perceive the risk-adjusted returns on loans as superior to our deposit rate.