"Independent thinking, intelligence and insight, sense of humor, mellow attitude, good kisser, patience, good cook to make up for my lack of, independent interests, secure self-esteem, good with children, kind heart (no bad boys), someone who treats me with respect and shares my love for travel."

"Monetary policy stimulus, evident in a negative real federal funds rate in recent quarters, has also helped to support household cash flows by keeping down consumer and mortgage interest payments."

"... the market may expect that the vast supply of Treasury securities needed to fund the US deficit going forward will necessitate higher yields."

"... the fact that interest rates in June had reached their lowest levels in 45 years is characteristic of a unique -- and potentially very challenging -- interest rate cycle."

"Persistently low interest rates prompted households to add consumer debt, rather than de-leverage during the last recession and subsequent 'jobless recovery.'"

"Home equity lines of credit, which have increased dramatically in popularity, are also typically variable rate."

"... the majority of outstanding mortgage debt was underwritten using recent collateral values, so declines from current highs could elevate mortgage default activity and losses among some mortgage lenders."

"Some underwriters have featured progressively less reliance on borrower equity, as evidenced by the rapid rise in 'piggyback' financing arrangements, where portions of the traditional 20 percent downpayment are borrowed in the form of a home equity loan (e.g., '80-10-10' loans). Similarly, home equity lending programs featuring loan-to-value ratios in excess of 100 percent have become more common. These lending developments have opened the door to homeownership for many, but they may also pose increased credit risks to mortgage lenders."

"... institutions that have pursued loan growth by lending to relatively thinly capitalized builders may find these builders struggling to make debt service payments."

"Several trends may have helped insulate banks' commercial real estate (CRE) portfolios from the effects of the deteriorating market fundamentals in this cycle, including: low interest rates; more stringent CRE lending standards; the availability of alternate, publicly-held funding sources such as REITs; and, the relative attractiveness of real estate as an investment class."

"... the industry in the aggregate is well-positioned to withstand the present risks ... industry aggregate capital ratio is near record-high levels ... the percent of unprofitable institutions is near record lows."

"The prevailing stance of policy has been expansionary, as is clear not only from the current low level of nominal and real interest rates, but also from the behavior of borrowers. Credit outstanding is rising at around 14 per cent per year, and at over 20 per cent to households. That is a much faster rate of growth than can be expected to be consistent with economic stability over the longer run. Short periods of rapid credit growth have not typically been a major concern for monetary policy, but this growth has been sustained for some time and at present shows no sign of abating."

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia